KR102536617B1 - Air conditioning device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

An air conditioner for a vehicle is disclosed. The present invention includes a guide wall protruding from an upper side of the heater core to a lower side of the heater core to a length partially overlapping the electric heater between the heater core and the electric heater to guide air passing through the heater core to the electric heater. Thus, an air conditioner for a vehicle capable of increasing the efficiency of an electric heater, remarkably increasing the amount of air discharged through an air discharge port, and easily controlling the discharge air volume is provided.

Description

Vehicle air conditioner {AIR CONDITIONING DEVICE FOR VEHICLE}

The present invention relates to an air conditioner for a vehicle, and the present invention relates to an air conditioner for a vehicle, and more particularly, to an air conditioner for a vehicle in which an air conditioner equipped with an electric heater improves the air volume of air heat-exchanged with the electric heater.

In general, air conditioners for vehicles are installed to cool or heat the interior of a vehicle in summer or winter, or to secure front and rear views of a driver by removing frost from a windshield in rainy weather or winter.

Such an air conditioner for a vehicle selectively passes internal or external air introduced into the vehicle interior by a blower to an evaporator in which refrigerant flows or a heater core in which cooling water of a vehicle engine flows, to exchange heat, The interior of the interior is cooled or heated by distributing cold or warm air through the Defrost Vent, Face Vent, and Floor Vent communicated with each part of the interior. .

Such an air conditioner is a three-piece type in which a blower, an evaporator, and a heater core are independently configured, a semi-center mounting type in which an evaporator and a heater core are integrally configured in one case, and a blower, It can be classified as a center mounting type in which an evaporator and a heater core are integrated in one case.

1 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional vehicle air conditioner equipped with a PTC heater.

As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional vehicle air conditioner equipped with a PTC heater includes an air conditioning case 10 having an air inlet 11 formed on an inlet side and a plurality of air outlet ports 12 formed on an outlet side, and the air conditioning case 10 ) installed inside the evaporator 1, the heater core 2, the PTC heater 5 provided in parallel to one side of the heater core 2, and between the evaporator 1 and the heater core 2 It includes a temp door 20 installed to adjust the temperature, and a mode door 30 installed in the air outlet 12 to adjust the opening degree of the air outlet 12 according to the air conditioning mode.

In addition, the air conditioner is controlled by various control switches (not shown) of a controller installed on an instrument panel of a vehicle, and controls an actuator that drives the temp door 20 to adjust the temperature. Temp switch ( (not shown), a mode switch (not shown) for operating the air conditioning mode by controlling the actuator that drives the mode door 30, an air volume switch (not shown) for adjusting the air volume, and for selecting indoor and outdoor air Various control switches such as internal and external air switches (not shown) are provided.

At the initial stage of starting in winter, there is a disadvantage in that the interior of the vehicle cannot be immediately heated because the heat of the coolant inside the engine, which has been lowered in temperature due to the influence of outside air, cannot be used. In order to solve these disadvantages, the air conditioner is provided with a PTC (Positive Temperature Coefficient) heater 5, which is an auxiliary heating means, to heat the vehicle interior at the initial stage of startup.

Also, in recent years, other types of automobiles that are eco-friendly and fuel-efficient, such as hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles, are actively being developed in addition to automobiles using combustion engines. In such a hybrid vehicle or electric vehicle, a PTC heater 5 is separately provided inside the air conditioner.

As shown in FIG. 2, as a type of electric heater, the PTC heater 5 has a plurality of PTC elements 7 installed inside a heater case 6, and a plurality of heat radiation fins around each PTC element 7. (8) is installed to form a heat transfer unit, so that heat exchange is performed between the heat generated by the PTC element 7 and the air passing through the heat dissipation fin 8.

In addition, to control the on/off of the PTC heater 5, a signal control method using PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) may be applied through the control unit 9. The PWM method is one of the pulse modulation methods, and refers to a method of controlling by changing a duty rate of a pulse according to the magnitude of a modulation signal. That is, in the PWM control, the control value is adjusted by adjusting the duty ratio, and at this time, the average value of the signal is changed as the duty ratio of the pulse signal is changed, and this average value is used as the control signal value.

As the PTC heater 5, a small low-voltage PTC heater is used in the case of a general air conditioner, and a large-sized high-voltage PTC heater is used in the case of an electric and hybrid vehicle. The control unit 9 may be divided into a separate type electrically connected to the PTC heater 5 and installed in a different location, and an integral type assembled and installed to the PTC heater 5.

Accordingly, in the maximum heating mode, the temp door 20 rotates in the direction of opening the heater core 2 and the PTC heater 5, and in the maximum cooling mode, the temp door 20 rotates in the direction of closing the PTC heater. .

However, in the conventional vehicle air conditioner, the heater core 2 and the PTC heater 5 are arranged side by side in parallel, and the PTC heater 5 is smaller in size than the heater core 2, and the PTC heater An air flow space may exist above and below (5). Accordingly, for example, in the maximum heating mode, the air that has passed through the heater core 2 passes through the PTC heater 5, but does not pass through the PTC heater 5 and exits up and down, thereby increasing the efficiency of the PTC heater 5. There was a problem with falling.

The PTC heater 5 mainly works for about 10 to 15 minutes after the initial start of the vehicle and is turned off in most cases, but in particular, in the case of a hybrid vehicle requiring continuous operation of the PTC heater 5, the PTC heater There was a problem with a sharp drop in efficiency.

3 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional vehicle air conditioner equipped with a PTC heater.

In view of this, as shown in FIG. 3 , the conventional vehicle air conditioner is provided with a guide wall 13 blocking the upper sides of the heater core 2 and the PTC heater 5, so that the flow to the upper side of the PTC heater 5 Although the flow of air is blocked, wind pressure rapidly rises in front of the evaporator 1, and the wind speed discharged to the vents rapidly increases, resulting in an uncontrollable problem.

In addition, even when the size of the PTC heater 5 is increased by the size of the heater core 2, there is a problem that the resulting cost increase becomes very large, so research on efficient positioning of the PTC heater 5 and surrounding configuration continues. It is becoming.

Therefore, an object of the present invention for solving this problem is to protrude from the upper direction of the heater core to the lower direction between the heater core and the electric heater to a length that partially overlaps the electric heater, and to release the air passing through the heater core. [PROBLEMS] To provide an air conditioner for a vehicle, including a guide wall leading to an electric heater, increasing the efficiency of an electric heater, significantly increasing the amount of air discharged through an air outlet, and easily controlling the amount of air discharged.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an air conditioning case having an air flow path therein to blow air supplied by a blowing unit to an air outlet, an evaporator, a heater core, and an electric heater sequentially installed in the air flow direction in the air conditioning case. In the air conditioner for a vehicle including a heater,

A vehicle including a guide wall protruding from an upper side of the heater core to a lower side of the heater core to a length partially overlapping the electric heater between the heater core and the electric heater and guiding air passing through the heater core to the electric heater. Provides air conditioning.

Also, an arrangement angle between the length direction of the heater core and the length direction of the PTC heater may be formed to be 5 degrees or more and 30 degrees or less.

Also, the heater core and the PTC heater may be spaced apart from each other to form a passage space.

Also, the passage space may have a width of 5 mm or more and 30 mm or less.

In addition, some of the air passing through the heating part of the heater core passes through the heating part of the electric heater, and some of the air passing through the heating part of the heater core bypasses the electric heater and flows through the passage space, and then the electric heat It may be joined with the air passing through the heating part of the heater.

In addition, the guide wall may be positioned to face the heating part of the heater core and the heating part of the electric heater.

In addition, the guide wall may be formed on a side where the heater core and the electric heater are closely disposed in the heater core and the electric heater having a predetermined arrangement angle.

In addition, an end portion of the guide wall may be formed close to the heater core side.

According to the vehicle air conditioner of the present invention described above, compared to conventional air conditioners in which the upper side of the electric heater is closed, the efficiency of the electric heater can be increased, the amount of air discharged through the air outlet can be significantly increased, and the discharge air volume can be easily controlled. There are possible effects.

1 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional vehicle air conditioner equipped with a PTC heater.
2 is a perspective view showing a PTC heater applied to the vehicle air conditioner of the present invention.
3 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional vehicle air conditioner equipped with a PTC heater.
4 is a cross-sectional view showing an air conditioner for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of the air conditioner of FIG. 4 .
6 is a partially enlarged perspective view showing a state in which a part of a guide wall is cut in the air conditioner for a vehicle according to the present invention.
7 is a diagram showing speed distribution in the vicinity of the heater core and the electric heater of the air conditioner according to the present invention.
8 is a view showing the distribution of wind speed inside the air conditioner in the air conditioner for vehicles according to the present invention and in the conventional air conditioner in which the upper and lower sides are closed so that air passes only through the electric heater. FIG. An air conditioner for a vehicle, and FIG. 8 (b) is a view showing a conventional air conditioner.

In order to fully understand the present invention, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Embodiments of the present invention may be modified in various forms, and the scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited to the examples described in detail below. This embodiment is provided to more completely explain the present invention to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the shapes of elements in the drawings may be exaggerated to emphasize a clearer description. It should be noted that in each drawing, the same members are sometimes indicated by the same reference numerals. In addition, detailed descriptions of well-known functions and configurations that may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention are omitted.

4 is a cross-sectional view showing an air conditioner for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, the vehicle air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an air conditioning case 110, an evaporator 101 as a cooling unit, a heater core 102 as a heating unit, and an electric heater 105. do. The electric heater 105 is a broad concept heater that generates heat using electricity and may include the PTC heater of FIG. 2 described in the background art.

The air conditioning case 110 has an air flow path formed therein to blow air supplied by a blowing unit (not shown) to the air outlet 112, and an air inlet 111 connected to the air blowing unit is formed at the inlet side. and a plurality of air outlets 112 through which the flow path is opened and closed by the mode door 130 are formed on the outlet side. The evaporator 101 and the heating means are sequentially installed in the air flow direction inside the air conditioning case 110 . The heating means includes a heater core 102 and an electric heater 105.

That is, the vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention can be applied to an electric vehicle, for example, and includes an electric electric heater 105 as a heating means. In this case, the present invention is characterized by a configuration that can improve the control of the air volume and wind pressure of the discharged air passing through the electric heater 105 through the structural configuration of the guide wall 200 to be described later.

In addition, when the electric heater 105 is a PTC heater, as shown in the configuration of FIG. 2, heat can be supplied or cut through power on/off control, and the discharge air temperature is partially linearly controlled through PWM control. . In detail, for the on/off control of the electric heater 105, for example, a signal control method using pulse width modulation (PWM) may be applied through the control unit described in the background art. The PWM method is one of the pulse modulation methods, and refers to a method of controlling by changing a duty rate of a pulse according to the magnitude of a modulation signal. That is, the PWM control adjusts the control value by adjusting the duty ratio. At this time, the average value of the pulse signal is changed by changing the duty ratio of the pulse signal, and this average value can be used as the control signal value.

In addition, in the vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention, a bypass flow path is formed between the evaporator 101 as a cooling means inside the air conditioning case 110, the heater core 102 as a heating means, and the electric heater 105. and a bypass door 120 opening and closing the bypass passage. The bypass flow passage prevents all or all of the air passing through the evaporator 101 from flowing toward the heating means by bypassing the air. Meanwhile, the bypass door 120 is rotatably installed on the bypass passage about the rotational shaft 121 to control the amount of air passing through the bypass passage. In the drawings, the rotational shaft 121 of the bypass door 120 is rotatably coupled to one upper side of the heater core 102, but the present invention relates to the location of the rotational shaft 121 of the bypass door 120. Not limiting. In detail, the bypass door 120 is disposed on one central side of the evaporator 101 and the heating means.

5 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of the air conditioner of FIG. 4, FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged perspective view showing a state in which a part of the guide wall 200 is cut in the vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention, and FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of the present invention. It is a diagram showing the speed distribution in the vicinity of the heater core 102 and the electric heater 105 of the air conditioner by .

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 , the air conditioner for a vehicle according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a heater core 102 and an electric heater 105 sequentially arranged in an air flow direction, and the heater core 102 ) includes a heating unit 102-2 equipped with a heat exchanging unit such as a heating fin to exchange heat with air, and a tank unit 102-1 that wraps and fixes the heating unit 102-2 up and down. That is, heat exchange between the flowing air and the heater core 102 is performed in the heating part 102 - 2 of the heater core 102 . Likewise, in this embodiment, the electric heater 105 may be a PTC heater, and includes a heat generating unit through which air passes and heat is exchanged.

In this case, part of the air passing through the heat generating part 102-2 of the heater core 102 passes through the heat generating part of the electric heater 105 and exchanges heat, and the other part passes through the heat generating part of the electric heater 105 in the flow path space ( B), the lower side bypasses the electric heater 105 to be guided along the inner wall of the air conditioning case 110.

In this case, the heater core 102 and the electric heater 105 may be formed in a plate shape with a predetermined thickness, and the arrangement angle A of the longitudinal direction of the heater core 102 and the longitudinal direction of the electric heater 105 is Formed at 5 degrees or more and 30 degrees or less. That is, the heater core 102 and the electric heater 105 are disposed with a predetermined arrangement angle A inside the air conditioning case 110. When the arrangement angle A is less than 5 degrees, the electric heater 105 ) When the air that has passed through the heating part rises along the inner wall of the air conditioning case 110, resistance to air flow is generated, and when the arrangement angle (A) exceeds 30 degrees, it occupies the space of the air conditioning case 110 There is a problem in that the volume of the air conditioning case 110 increases.

That is, in the present invention, the heater core 102 and the electric heater 105 are formed by forming an arrangement angle A between the longitudinal direction of the heater core 102 and the longitudinal direction of the electric heater 105 to be 5 degrees or more and 30 or less. ) while minimizing the resistance of the air flow passing through the heat generating unit, a part of the air is induced to be bypassed to the lower side of the heater core 102 flexibly.

In addition, the vehicle air conditioner according to the second embodiment of the present invention includes a passage space (B) in which the heater core 102 and the electric heater 105 are spaced apart at a predetermined interval from the upper end in the drawing direction to form an air passage .

On the other hand, the hot air passing through the heating part of the heater core 102 passes through the heating part of the electric heater 105 to further increase the temperature. In this case, the electric heater 105 is used more efficiently as in the prior art. As a way to achieve this, when the circumference of the heater core 102 is closed so that all the air passing through the heating part of the heater core 102 passes through the heating part of the electric heater 105, the electric heater 105 has severe ventilation resistance. Therefore, the amount of air discharged through the air outlet 112 is significantly reduced, and the air speed passing through the heating unit of the electric heater 105 increases (see FIG. 8), making it difficult to control the discharge amount. In addition, as described in the background art, when the upper side of the electric heater 105 is closed and the lower side is opened, the air passing through the heating part of the heater core 102 escapes to the lower side of the electric heater 105, and the electric heater 105 There was a problem of low efficiency.

That is, in the present embodiment, to solve this problem, the heater core 102 and the electric heater 105 are provided to maximize the amount of air discharged through the air outlet 112 while maximizing the efficiency of the electric heater 105. are spaced apart at predetermined intervals to secure the passage space B, so that the air passing through the heating part of the heater core 102 flows to the lower side of the electric heater 105 and at the same time flows to the passage space B above the electric heater 105. ), and guides the air to pass through the electric heater 105.

In this case, it is preferable that the width of the passage space (B) is formed to be 5 mm or more and 30 mm or less in the case of generally applied air conditioners. When the width of the passage space (B) is less than 5 mm, the air flowing into the passage space (B) does not flow at an appropriate level, so the air flowing to the electric heater 105 is reduced and the air volume may be reduced. If the width of (B) exceeds 30 mm, too much air flows into the passage space (B) and there is a problem in that the efficiency of the electric heater 105 is reduced because the air passing through the electric heater 105 is small.

In addition, in the vehicle air conditioner according to the third embodiment of the present invention, in order to guide the air passing through the heating part of the heater core 102 to the electric heater 105, the heater core ( 102) and the electric heater 105, a guide wall 200 protrudes to a length partially overlapping the electric heater 105 in a downward direction in the drawing.

In this embodiment, it can be applied together with the above-described first and second embodiments, and as shown in FIG. 7, ① air passing through the upper side of the heater core 102 partially passes through the guide wall 200 protruding downward. is directed to the passage space B, and the remainder is directed to the heating part of the electric heater 105 to increase the efficiency of the electric heater 105. In addition, ② air passes through the heating part of the electric heater 105, and ③ air is guided to the lower side of the electric heater 105 where there is no ventilation resistance. Accordingly, the vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention increases the efficiency of the electric heater 105 and significantly increases the amount of air discharged through the air outlet 112, compared to the conventional air conditioner in which the upper side of the electric heater 105 is closed. It works.

In this case, the ③ air flows along the inner wall of the air conditioning case 110 without ventilation resistance to the lower side of the electric heater 105 and joins ① air and ② air.

That is, in the vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention, the air volume discharged from the air outlet 112 may be reduced to some extent compared to the conventional air conditioner in which the upper side of the electric heater 105 is closed, but the efficiency of the electric heater 105 is maximized In other words, heating can be used efficiently with little wind.

In this case, the guide wall 200 is positioned to face the heater core 102 and the electric heater 105 . In this case, the guide wall 200 is the upper side where the heater core 102 and the electric heater 105 are disposed close to each other in the heater core 102 and the electric heater 105 having a mutual inclination according to the first embodiment. can be formed in This is because the upper sides of the heater core 102 and the electric heater 105, which are disposed at an angle to each other, have a relatively narrow distance from each other, resulting in a high wind speed, and thus too much air may flow into the passage space B.

In addition, the end of the guide wall 200 may be formed close to the heater core 102 side. In detail, when the end of the guide wall 200 is formed close to the heater core 102, the guide wall has a narrow distance from the heater core 102 and the electric heater 105 having an inclination to each other according to the first embodiment. Since the wind speed is relatively high between the heater core 102 and the heater core 102, the amount of air bypassed without passing through the electric heater 105 can be increased.

8 is a view showing the distribution of wind speed inside the air conditioner in the air conditioner for vehicles according to the present invention and in the conventional air conditioner in which the upper and lower sides are closed so that air passes only through the electric heater 105. FIG. An air conditioner for a vehicle by, and FIG. 8 (b) is a view showing a conventional air conditioner.

As shown in FIG. 8 , it can be seen that in the vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention, the ratio of air introduced into the electric heater 105 increased from 30 to 40% to 60 to 70% compared to the conventional air conditioner. That is, in FIG. 8 (b), when the air passing through the heating part of the heater core 102 is designed to pass through only the heating part of the electric heater 105, the heating part of the heater core 102 and the heating part of the electric heater 105 generate heat. It can be seen that the ventilation resistance of the wind passing through the unit is increased by 25% or more compared to the vehicle air conditioner of the present invention, and the air volume is also remarkably reduced to about 40 to 60 CMH.

In detail, when the blower (not shown) blows the evaporator 101 at 300 CMH (cubic meter/hour), the pressure at the front end of the evaporator 101 is 478.2 Pa in FIG. It was measured at 636 Pa, and based on this, it was found that the ventilation resistance of the conventional air conditioner increased by about 25% or more compared to the vehicle air conditioner of the present invention. That is, it means that the pressure is increased by the corresponding amount due to ventilation resistance generated when the air pushed by the blower passes through the heating part of the heater core 102 and the heating part of the electric heater 105.

Likewise, it can be seen that the wind speed at the rear end of the electric heater 105 is incomparably faster than in conventional vehicle air conditioners, making it almost impossible to control the air discharged through the air outlet 112 .

The above-described embodiment of the air conditioner for a vehicle of the present invention is only exemplary, and those skilled in the art to which the present invention belongs will be aware that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible therefrom. You will be able to. Therefore, it will be well understood that the present invention is not limited to the forms mentioned in the detailed description above. Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention should be determined by the technical spirit of the appended claims. It is also to be understood that the present invention includes all modifications, equivalents and alternatives within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

110: air conditioning case 102: heater core
101: evaporator 102-1: tank part
102-2: heating part 105: electric heater
111: air inlet 112: air outlet
120: bypass door 121: rotation shaft
130: mode door 200: guide wall

Claims (8)

An air conditioning case 110 having an air flow path formed therein to blow air supplied by the blowing unit to the air outlet 112, an evaporator 101 sequentially installed in the air flow direction in the air conditioning case 110, and a heater In the vehicle air conditioner including the core 102 and the electric heater 105,
Between the heater core 102 and the electric heater 105, it protrudes from the top of the heater core 102 to the bottom to a length partially overlapping the electric heater 105 and passes through the heater core 102. Including a guide wall 200 that guides air to the electric heater 105,
The guide wall 200 covers the upper tank of the heater core 102 in a horizontal direction between the heater core 102 and the electric heater 105 and extends downward to overlap the upper side of the electric heater 105. becomes,
An air conditioner for a vehicle forming a passage space (B) between the guide wall (200) and the upper side of the electric heater (105). The method of claim 1,
The vehicle air conditioner, characterized in that the arrangement angle (A) of the longitudinal direction of the heater core (102) and the longitudinal direction of the electric heater (105) is formed to be 5 degrees or more and 30 degrees or less. delete The method of claim 1,
The vehicle air conditioner, characterized in that the width of the passage space (B) is formed to 5 mm or more and 30 mm or less. The method of claim 1,
Some of the air passing through the heating part of the heater core 102 passes through the heating part of the electric heater 105,
Some of the other air that has passed through the heating part of the heater core 102 bypasses the electric heater 105, flows through the passage space B, and then joins the air passing through the heating part of the electric heater 105. A vehicle air conditioner, characterized in that being. The method of claim 1,
The guide wall 200,
An air conditioner for a vehicle, characterized in that positioned to face the heating part 102-2 of the heater core 102 and the heating part of the electric heater 105. The method of claim 2,
The guide wall 200,
In the heater core 102 and the electric heater 105 having a disposition angle A, the heater core 102 and the electric heater 105 are formed close to each other. The method of claim 7,
The guide wall 200,
An air conditioner for a vehicle, characterized in that the end is formed close to the heater core (102).

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