US20070144724A1 - Automotive air conditioner - Google Patents
Automotive air conditioner Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20070144724A1 US20070144724A1 US11/714,286 US71428607A US2007144724A1 US 20070144724 A1 US20070144724 A1 US 20070144724A1 US 71428607 A US71428607 A US 71428607A US 2007144724 A1 US2007144724 A1 US 2007144724A1
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- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- air
- evaporator
- heat exchanger
- condensed water
- blower
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Abandoned
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Classifications
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
- B60H—ARRANGEMENTS OF HEATING, COOLING, VENTILATING OR OTHER AIR-TREATING DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR PASSENGER OR GOODS SPACES OF VEHICLES
- B60H1/00—Heating, cooling or ventilating [HVAC] devices
- B60H1/00007—Combined heating, ventilating, or cooling devices
- B60H1/00021—Air flow details of HVAC devices
- B60H1/00028—Constructional lay-out of the devices in the vehicle
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
- B60H—ARRANGEMENTS OF HEATING, COOLING, VENTILATING OR OTHER AIR-TREATING DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR PASSENGER OR GOODS SPACES OF VEHICLES
- B60H1/00—Heating, cooling or ventilating [HVAC] devices
- B60H1/00007—Combined heating, ventilating, or cooling devices
- B60H1/00021—Air flow details of HVAC devices
- B60H1/00035—Air flow details of HVAC devices for sending an air stream of uniform temperature into the passenger compartment
- B60H1/0005—Air flow details of HVAC devices for sending an air stream of uniform temperature into the passenger compartment the air being firstly cooled and subsequently heated or vice versa
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
- B60H—ARRANGEMENTS OF HEATING, COOLING, VENTILATING OR OTHER AIR-TREATING DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR PASSENGER OR GOODS SPACES OF VEHICLES
- B60H1/00—Heating, cooling or ventilating [HVAC] devices
- B60H1/00507—Details, e.g. mounting arrangements, desaeration devices
- B60H1/00514—Details of air conditioning housings
- B60H1/00521—Mounting or fastening of components in housings, e.g. heat exchangers, fans, electronic regulators
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
- B60H—ARRANGEMENTS OF HEATING, COOLING, VENTILATING OR OTHER AIR-TREATING DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR PASSENGER OR GOODS SPACES OF VEHICLES
- B60H1/00—Heating, cooling or ventilating [HVAC] devices
- B60H1/32—Cooling devices
- B60H1/3233—Cooling devices characterised by condensed liquid drainage means
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
- B60H—ARRANGEMENTS OF HEATING, COOLING, VENTILATING OR OTHER AIR-TREATING DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR PASSENGER OR GOODS SPACES OF VEHICLES
- B60H1/00—Heating, cooling or ventilating [HVAC] devices
- B60H1/00007—Combined heating, ventilating, or cooling devices
- B60H1/00021—Air flow details of HVAC devices
- B60H2001/00078—Assembling, manufacturing or layout details
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
- B60H—ARRANGEMENTS OF HEATING, COOLING, VENTILATING OR OTHER AIR-TREATING DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR PASSENGER OR GOODS SPACES OF VEHICLES
- B60H1/00—Heating, cooling or ventilating [HVAC] devices
- B60H1/00007—Combined heating, ventilating, or cooling devices
- B60H1/00021—Air flow details of HVAC devices
- B60H2001/00078—Assembling, manufacturing or layout details
- B60H2001/00092—Assembling, manufacturing or layout details of air deflecting or air directing means inside the device
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
- B60H—ARRANGEMENTS OF HEATING, COOLING, VENTILATING OR OTHER AIR-TREATING DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR PASSENGER OR GOODS SPACES OF VEHICLES
- B60H1/00—Heating, cooling or ventilating [HVAC] devices
- B60H1/00007—Combined heating, ventilating, or cooling devices
- B60H1/00021—Air flow details of HVAC devices
- B60H2001/00078—Assembling, manufacturing or layout details
- B60H2001/00107—Assembling, manufacturing or layout details characterised by the relative position of the heat exchangers, e.g. arrangements leading to a curved airflow
Definitions
- the present invention relates to an automotive air conditioner, more particularly , to an arrangement for the automotive air conditioner unit having heat exchangers which is disposed in approximately horizontal direction and introduces the air generated by a blower from lower sides of the heat exchangers.
- a conventional automotive air conditioner adopts so called “lateral layout”.
- This lateral layout is, as shown in FIG. 17 , that a fan unit 1 , a cooler unit 2 a and a heater unit 2 b are arranged in line in the lateral (width) direction of the vehicle.
- FIG. 18 shows the manner in which the lateral layout air conditioner is mounted within the vehicle.
- the vehicle has an instrumental panel or dashboard P.
- the fan unit 1 , the cooler unit 2 a and the heater unit 2 b collectively occupy a almost half space (which is formed in front of a passenger seat) in the dashboard P along the width direction of the vehicle.
- a vehicle is provided with a great number of electronic components such as computers, a compact disk player, a passenger air bag and other automotive accessaries. This results in a decrease in the space within the dashboard P and thus, makes it difficult to mount such a lateral layout air conditioner within the dashboard.
- FIG. 19 there is shown another type of conventional air conditioner 2 arranged centrally within a vehicle and including, as a unit, a cooler or evaporator 21 and a heater core 22 .
- the evaporator 21 and the heater core 22 are arranged one after the other in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.
- a fan unit 1 is offset laterally from the central portion of the vehicle.
- center layout provides a sufficient space within the dashboard to mount the evaporator 21 and the heater core 22 since these components are both located at the center of the vehicle.
- these heat exchangers evaporator 21 and heater core 22
- these heat exchangers are vertically arranged one above the other in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle, it is necessary to provide an air duct in front of the evaporator 21 so as to receive an air from the fan unit 1 .
- blow mode selector may be arranged above the heater core 22 .
- this arrangement brings about an increase in the height of the air conditioner.
- the present invention adopted the following construction.
- an automotive air conditioner includes a blower, a cooling heat exchanger, a heating heat exchanger, and a blow mode selector.
- the blower blows an air.
- the cooling heat exchanger is approximately horizontally disposed between a dashboard within a passenger compartment and an engine room and receives the air from its bottom side to an upward direction.
- the heating heat exchanger is approximately horizontally disposed over the cooling heat exchanger and heats the air.
- the blow mode selector is disposed downstream of the heating heat exchanger and changes the direction of the air flown after the air is heated to a controlled temperature by the heating heat exchanger.
- the blower is disposed between a dashboard within a passenger compartment and an engine room and offset in width direction of a vehicle from the center of a width of vehicle.
- the cooling heat exchanger gradually inclines downward along the direction of the air flow which is generated by the blower.
- the cooling heat exchanger is inclined at an angle of 10 to 30 degrees with respect to a horizontal plane.
- the air conditioner includes a case for directing the air from the blower to the cooling heat exchanger
- the case has a condensed water drain pipe for draining condensed water at a position below an air flow end of downwardly inclined the cooling heat exchanger.
- the automotive air conditioner includes guide elements located below the cooling heat exchanger.
- the guide elements are substantially in contact therewith.
- the case has a concave and convex surface having step shape and extending in a width direction of the case to equal an air blow speed distribution measured by an air blow speed of the air introduced into the cooling heat exchanger at a bottom surface of the cooling heat exchanger.
- the blower includes a scroll casing disposed approximately horizontally, and the scroll casing has a winding end portion connected to an air passage below the cooling heat exchanger.
- an air guide plate is disposed on a downstream side of the cooling heat exchanger and extends from the scroll casing along the air flow direction. Accordingly, the uniform heat exchange can be performed in each portion of the cooling heat exchanger, thus improving the heat exchanging efficiency and contributing to the uniformity of the air blow speed distribution of the air flowing into the heating heat exchanger.
- an upper surface of the air guide plate contacts with a bottom surface of the cooling heat exchanger so that the air guide plate supports the said cooling heat exchanger.
- the air guide plate partitions an air passage below the cooling heat exchanger into plural independent passages.
- the air guide plate includes a curved portion on an end thereof on a side of a centrifugal fan of the blower, and the curved portion is bent smoothly along the air flow from the centrifugal fan.
- a unit case for containing the cooling heat exchanger is included, and the winding end portion is connected to a portion corresponding to a lower side portion of the cooling heat exchanger, of the unit case. Further, a portion leading from the winding end portion to the unit case, of the scroll casing, extends approximately parallel to a width direction of the automobile, and the air guide plate is disposed approximately parallel to a width direction of the automobile.
- a plurality of air distributing plates is disposed in a space between the cooling heat exchanger and the heating heat exchanger, for uniforming air blow speed distribution of air in the heating heat exchanger in a width direction of the automobile.
- a unit case for containing the cooling heat exchanger is included, and the unit case includes a stepped concave and convex portion on a portion thereof corresponding to a lower portion of the cooling heat exchanger, for uniforming air blow speed distribution of air flowing into the cooling heat exchanger in a width direction of the automobile.
- an air conditioning unit case for containing the cooling heat exchanger and the heating heat exchanger and for forming an air passage in which air generated by said blower passes is included, and a direction of the air passage is changed from a horizontal direction to a vertical direction toward the downstream side.
- the cooling heat exchanger includes a plurality of tubes in which heating medium for being heat exchanged with air which is generated by said blower passes, and a corrugated fin connected between each pair of the adjacent tubes, and the corrugated fin has a fin flat surface and is provided with louvers for guiding air which is generated by said blower toward an inclination direction against the fin flat surface.
- the inclination direction being is so as to offset non-uniformity of air blow speed distribution of air due to the changing direction of the air passage in said air conditioning unit case.
- the inclination directions of the louvers of the corrugated fin on an upstream side and on the downstream side of said fin flat surface are reversed against each other, and the inclination direction of the louver of the corrugated fin at least on the downstream side is set so as to offset the non-uniformity of air blow speed distribution of air.
- the cooling heat exchanger inclines downward with a minute angle along the forwarding direction of the air flow which is generated by said blower, and the plurality of tubes is disposed so as to extend below said cooling heat exchanger along the blowing direction of the air flow which is generated by said blower.
- the cooling heat exchanger includes a tank portion for distributing and receiving the heating medium against the plurality of tubes on an upper end portion thereof in the inclination direction, and the inclination direction of the louver of the corrugated fin at least on the downstream side is set so as to direct the air flow by the blower toward the tank portion.
- blower is disposed so as to be offset from a central portion of a dashboard in a width direction of an automobile
- a cooling heat exchanger is approximately horizontally disposed within a dashboard, for receiving from its bottom side the air blown by the blower, cooling the air, and leading the cooled air toward an upward direction
- a heating heat exchanger is approximately horizontally disposed over the cooling heat exchanger in the central portion of a dashboard and for heating the air.
- a blower is disposed so as to be offset from a central portion of a dashboard in a width direction of an automobile
- a cooling heat exchanger is approximately horizontally disposed within a dashboard, for receiving from its bottom side the air blown by the blower, cooling the air, and leading the cooled air toward an upward direction
- a blow mode selector is disposed over the cooling heat exchanger and for changing the blowing direction of the air passing through the cooling heat exchanger.
- a blower is disposed so as to be offset from a central portion of a dashboard in a width direction of an automobile
- a heating heat exchanger is approximately horizontally disposed, for receiving the air from its bottom side the air blown by the blower, heating the air, and leading the heated air toward an upward direction
- a blow mode selector disposed over the heating heat exchanger and for changing the blowing direction of the air passing through the heating heat exchanger.
- both of the cooling heat exchanger and the heating heat exchanger are located substantially horizontally and laminated vertically (one above the other), a vertical space for the heat exchanger portion can be greatly reduced.
- the vertical dimension of the air conditioning unit can be made sufficiently smaller than that of the conventional center-layout unit.
- the vertical dimension of the air conditioning unit can be made sufficiently small as described above, even when the blow mode selector is disposed over the heating heat exchanger, the vertical dimension of the entire air conditioning apparatus can be suppressed from increasing.
- the dimension in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle can also be reduced.
- FIG. 1 is a plan view of an automotive air conditioner according to a first embodiment of the present invention
- FIG. 2 is a front view of the air conditioner shown in FIG. 1 ;
- FIG. 3 is a schematic view, in plane, showing the air conditioner of the first embodiment mounted within a vehicle;
- FIG. 4 is a schematic view, in perspective, showing the air conditioner of the first embodiment mounted within the vehicle;
- FIG. 5 is a disassembled view of the air conditioner of the first embodiment
- FIG. 6 is side view showing the relationship between the air conditioner of the first embodiment and a partition located between an engine compartment and a passenger compartment;
- FIG. 7A is a graph showing the relationship between the angle ⁇ of inclination of an evaporator used in the first embodiment and the retained amount of condensed water which is left within the evaporator;
- FIG. 7B is a perspective view showing the structure of the evaporator
- FIG. 8A is a sectional view showing the manner in which the condensate drops from the evaporator in the event that the air conditioner is provided with no guide plate;
- FIG. 8B is a sectional view of the evaporator as viewed from right in FIG. 8A ;
- FIG. 9A is a sectional view of the evaporator associated with guide plates
- FIG. 9B is a sectional view of the evaporator as viewed from right in FIG. 9A ;
- FIG. 9C is a partial enlarged view of the guide plate of the evaporator shown in FIG. 9B ;
- FIGS. 10A and 10B show the automotive air conditioner of the first embodiment arranged for a right steering wheel vehicle
- FIGS. 11A and 11B show the automotive air conditioner of the first embodiment arranged for a left steering wheel vehicle
- FIGS. 12A and 12B are sectional and plan views, respectively showing a guide plate used in a second embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 13 is a graph showing the relationship between the inclined angle ⁇ of the evaporator and the amount of air to better drainage of the condensed water with the guide plates used in the second embodiment of the present invention
- FIG. 14 illustrates guide plates used in a third embodiment of the present invention
- FIGS. 15A and 15B are sectional and plan views of the air conditioner having guide plates used in a fourth embodiment of the present invention, respectively;
- FIG. 16 is a sectional side view of the second embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 17 is a perspective view of a lateral layout type automotive air conditioner in the prior art.
- FIG. 18 is a perspective view showing an automotive air conditioner arranged laterally within a vehicle in the prior art
- FIG. 19 is a perspective view of a center layout automotive air conditioner arranged within a vehicle in the prior-art
- FIG. 20 is a schematic view of the main part of the cooling unit to show the air blow speed distribution
- FIG. 21 is a schematic view of the main part of the cooling unit in the sixth embodiment to show the air blow speed distribution
- FIG. 22 is a graph showing the relationship between air blow speed ratio and air guide plates
- FIG. 23A is a top view of the unit case (the evaporator and heater are eliminated) in the seventh embodiment
- FIG. 23B is a side sectional view of the unit case and the evaporator to show a bottom shape of the unit case in the seventh embodiment
- FIG. 24A is a top view of the unit case (the evaporator and heater are eliminated) in modified example of the seventh embodiment
- FIG. 24B is a side sectional view of the unit case and the evaporator to show a bottom shape of the unit case in modified example of the seventh embodiment;
- FIG. 25 is a schematic sectional view of the unit case to show a slide door:
- FIG. 26 is a plan view of an automotive air conditioner according to an eighth embodiment.
- FIG. 27 is a perspective view of the automotive air conditioner according to the eighth embodiment.
- FIG. 28 is a front view of an automotive air conditioner according to the eighth embodiment.
- FIG. 29 is a sectional view taken along the line C-C of FIG. 28 ;
- FIG. 30 is a disassembled view of the air conditioner of the eighth embodiment.
- FIG. 31 is a plane view showing an experimental device on both a comparison sample and the eighth embodiment.
- FIG. 32 is a front view of the experimental device
- FIG. 33 is a sectional view showing a main portion of a ninth embodiment
- FIG. 34 is a sectional view showing a main portion of a tenth embodiment
- FIG. 35 is a perspective view showing a eleventh embodiment
- FIG. 36 is a perspective view showing a twelfth embodiment
- FIG. 37 is a schematic view, in plane, showing the air conditioner of a thirteenth embodiment mounted within a vehicle;
- FIG. 38 is a schematic view, in perspective, showing the air conditioner of the thirteenth embodiment mounted within the vehicle;
- FIG. 39 is a front view of the thirteenth embodiment.
- FIG. 40 is a sectional view showing a main portion of FIG. 39 ;
- FIG. 41 is a disassembled view of the air conditioner of the thirteenth embodiment
- FIG. 42 is a perspective view showing an evaporator according to the thirteenth embodiment.
- FIG. 43 is a partial perspective view showing a corrugated fin of the thirteenth embodiment.
- FIG. 44A is a perspective view showing a main portion of a comparison sample
- FIG. 44B is a front view showing a main portion of air blow speed distribution in a comparison sample
- FIG. 45A is a perspective view showing a main portion of the thirteenth embodiment.
- FIG. 45B is a front view showing a main portion of air blow speed distribution in the thirteenth embodiment.
- FIG. 46 is a sectional view showing a main portion of a fourteenth embodiment.
- FIG. 47 is a sectional view showing a main portion of a fourteenth embodiment.
- FIGS. 1 to 5 illustrate an automotive air conditioner according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
- a vehicle includes an engine compartment A and a passenger compartment B. These compartments A and B are divided by a partition C (generally referred to as a “fire wall” and made from an iron plate).
- a dashboard P is arranged within the passenger compartment B.
- the air conditioner comprises a fan unit 1 which is offset (to the left wheel the vehicle has a right steering wheel) from the central portion of the dashboard P in the width direction of the vehicle.
- the fan unit 1 has an internal air/external air selector housing 11 arranged at its top and adapted to allow for selective introduction of internal and external airs.
- the internal air/external air selector housing 11 includes an external air inlet 12 and internal air inlets 13 .
- An internal air/external air selector door (not shown) is mounted within the internal air/external air selector housing 11 so as to selectively open and close the external air inlet 12 and the internal air inlets 13 .
- a blower 14 is mounted below the internal air/external air selector housing 11 .
- the blower 14 includes a centrifugal multi-blade fan (scirocco fan) 15 , a fan motor 16 , and a scroll casing 17 .
- the fan 15 has a vertical rotary shaft. As the fan 15 rotates, an air flows from the internal air/external air selector housing 11 into the scroll casing 17 through a bellmouth-shaped inlet 18 (see FIG. 5 ) at the top of the scroll casing 17 . The air flows substantially horizontally through the scroll casing 17 and is directed toward an outlet (as is clear from FIG. 3 , from the left side toward the right side of the passenger compartment B).
- An air conditioning unit 2 is arranged in the central portion of the dashboard P within the passenger compartment B and includes heat exchangers which will later be described.
- the air conditioning unit 2 includes an evaporator (cooling heat exchanger) 21 disposed in an approximately horizontal fashion. The air flows from the fan unit 1 and is introduced into the evaporator 21 from lower side.
- a heater core (heating heat exchanger) 22 is disposed in an approximately horizontal fashion and located downstream of (above) the evaporator 21 in the direction in which the air flows.
- the heater core 22 utilizes an engine coolant (hot water) as a heat source.
- a blow mode selector 23 is located above (downstream of) the heater core 22 .
- a hot water flow control valve 24 for controlling the flow of hot water to the heater core 22 as a temperature control means. Under the control of the hot water flow control valve 24 , the heater core 22 adjusts the amount of heat applied to the air and thus, the temperature of the air fed into the passenger compartment.
- the blow mode selector 23 changes blow modes and includes a center face air outlet 25 (see FIGS. 1 and 2 ) communicated with a center face (upper) air outlet (not shown) formed on the center of the dashboard, a side face air outlet 26 communicated with a side face air outlet (not shown) formed on right and left sides of the dashboard, a foot air outlet 27 communicated with a foot (lower) air outlet (not shown) formed at the lower portion of the dashboard, and a defroster air outlet 28 communicated with a defroster air outlet (not shown) formed on the dashboard at the front window side.
- An air is directed toward the head of a vehicle occupant through the center face air outlet and the side face air outlet, toward the feet of the vehicle occupant through the foot air outlet, and toward the windshield of the vehicle through the defroster air outlet.
- the air outlet 25 to 28 are selectively opened and closed by door means (in the form of a plate-like door, a rotary door with an arcuate outer surface, and a film-like door).
- the blow mode selector 23 has a known structure and will not be described herein.
- the blow mode selector 23 is cylindrical in shape as shown in FIG. 6 .
- a rotary door 23 a is rotatably disposed within the blow mode selector 23 and has a cylindrical outer peripheral surface in which openings are defined to allow for the passage of the air.
- the rotary door 23 a is rotated to open and close the air outlets 25 to 28 to select a desired blow mode such as a face blow mode, a bilevel blow mode, a foot blow mode, a defroster blow mode, foot/defroster mode.
- Hot water pipes 22 a are connected to the heater core 22 to allow hot water to flow into and out of the heater core 22 .
- refrigerant pipes 21 a are connected to the evaporator 21 to 10 allow refrigerant to flow into and out of the evaporator 21 .
- Both the hot water pipes 22 a and the refrigerant pipes 21 a are located in the engine compartment A.
- the pipes 22 a and 21 a when assembled, extend through the partition (fire wall) C into the engine compartment A.
- the hot water pipes 22 a and the refrigerant pipes 21 a can be coupled within the engine compartment A rather than the passenger compartment B. This arrangement facilitates coupling of the pipes since it is not necessary to use such a 20 small space as the dashboard P.
- the partition C includes pipe holes (not shown) sealed by sealing members (grommet) G made of rubber or similar elastic materials.
- a temperature responsive expansion valve 21 b as a pressure reducing means is disposed between the evaporator 21 and the refrigerant pipes 21 a so as to reduce the pressure of and expand the refrigerant
- a condensed water is produced as a result of cooling.
- the evaporator 21 inclines relative to a horizontal plane as shown in FIG. 2 , the evaporator 21 is so inclined downwardly that the end of the evaporator 21 that is further from the blower 14 is slightly inclined downwardly. The air from the blower 14 is directed to the bottom of the evaporator 21 .
- the evaporator 21 includes a plurality of thin plates made of aluminum or similar materials which has a high corrosion resistance and a high thermal conductivity.
- the thin plates are laminated one above the other to form a multiplicity of tubes 21 f.
- Corrugated fins 21 g are disposed between adjacent tubes 21 f to provide a core 21 h.
- the evaporator 21 includes a tank 21 e connected to one end of the core 21 h.
- the tank 21 e distributes the refrigerant to the tubes 21 f and collects the refrigerant from the tubes 21 f.
- the refrigerant flows from the tank 21 e to the other end of the core 21 h and returns to the tank 21 e (as shown by the arrow U in FIG. 7B ).
- the tank 21 e includes a refrigerant inlet 21 i for receiving a refrigerant in two phase, that is, gas and liquid, whose pressure is reduced by the expansion valve 21 b, and a refrigerant outlet 21 j for discharging a refrigerant in gas phase which is evaporated in the core 21 h.
- the tubes 21 f of the evaporator 21 extend in the direction in which the air flows (from left to right in FIGS. 2 and 5 ). In this way, the air urges the condensed water toward the downwardly inclined end (right end in FIGS. 2 and 5 ) of the evaporator 21 along the tubes 21 f.
- a lower case 29 a (see FIG. 5 ) is disposed below (upstream of) the evaporator 21 and made of resin.
- a condensed drain pipe 21 c is integrally connected to the bottom of the lower case 29 a and corresponds in position to the downwardly inclined end of the evaporator 21 . The condensed water is discharged from the evaporator 21 through this drain pipe 21 c.
- FIG. 5 is a disassembled view of the air conditioner.
- the motor 16 has an output or rotary shaft 16 a connected to the fan 15 .
- the fan 15 is disposed within the scroll casing 17 .
- the scroll casing 17 is integrally formed in the lower case 29 a.
- the motor 16 has a flange 16 b fixedly secured to the scroll casing 17 .
- the lower case 29 a has a mounting surface on which the evaporator 21 is placed.
- the evaporator 21 is secured between the lower case 29 a and an intermediate case 29 b made of resin.
- the intermediate case 29 b has an integral cover 17 a adapted to cover the scroll casing 17 and including a bellmouth-shaped inlet 18 .
- the internal air/external air selector housing 11 is integrally mounted to the bellmouth-shaped inlet 18 .
- the intermediate case 29 b has a mounting surface on which the heater core 22 together with the hot water flow control valve 24 is placed.
- the heater core 22 is secured between the intermediate case 29 b and an upper case 29 c made of resin.
- the blow mode selector 23 , the center face air passage 25 , the side face air passage 26 , the foot air passage 27 , the defroster air passage 28 and the rotary door 23 a are all formed in the upper case 29 c .
- the cases 29 a to 29 c are detachably secured to the internal air/external air selector housing 11 by known resilient metal clips, screws or other means.
- the evaporator 21 is arranged in a substantially horizontal direction and an air is blown from the lower end toward the upper end of the evaporator 21 . Since the air flows in a direction opposite to the condensed water dropping direction, there is need for any means for smoothly draining the condensed water from the evaporator 21 .
- this embodiment provides various means for facilitating drainage of the condensed water.
- the evaporator 21 is slightly inclined with respect to a horizontal plane. Referring specifically to FIGS. 2 and 5 , an air is fed from the blower 14 to the bottom of the evaporator 21 and flows (to the right in FIGS. 2 and 5 ) from the rear end to the front end of the evaporator 21 .
- the evaporator 21 is so inclined downwardly that the end of the evaporator 21 which is further from the blower 14 is slightly inclined downwardly,i.e., the evaporator 21 gradually inclines downward along the direction of the air flow.
- the evaporator 21 is preferably inclined at an angle ⁇ of 10 to 30 degrees to reduce the retained volume of condensed water as shown in FIG. 7A .
- the tubes 21 f of the evaporator 21 extend (to the right in FIG. 5 ) in a direction identical to the direction in which the air flows.
- the condensed water is forced toward the downwardly inclined end (right end in FIGS. 2 and 5 ) of the evaporator 21 by the air while it flows on and along the tubes 21 f .
- the condensed water is drained from the evaporator 21 through the condensed water drain pipe 21 c .
- the drain pipe 21 c is provided below the downwardly inclined end of the evaporator 21 and integrally molded to the bottom of the lower case 29 a.
- the inventor has carefully observed how the condensed sed water is discharged from the air conditioner. As a result of this observation, it has been found that as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B , the condensed water is directed toward the downwardly inclined end of the evaporator 21 under gravity and air pressure to form small droplets W. When those droplets coalesce and grow to form a certain size of droplet, then it drops from the evaporator 21 . This occurs in an intermittent manner.
- the inventor reached an idea to continuously move the condensed water to the drain pipe 21 c of the case 29 a before the droplets W reaches a certain size to be dropped.
- a plurality of vertical guide plates 21 k are located below the downwardly inclined end of the evaporator 21 to which the droplets W are directed as shown in FIGS. 9A, 9B and 9 C.
- the guide plates 21 k are substantially in contact with (or may be separated a very small distance away from) the tubes 21 f .
- the guide plates 21 k are integrally formed in the lower case 29 a .
- the guide plates 21 k are arranged at predetermined intervals along the width of the downwardly inclined end of the evaporator 21 .
- the lower case 29 a has a side wall 29 a ′.
- the guide plates 21 k are spaced as at 21 m from the side wall 29 ′ as shown in FIG. 9A .
- the drain pipe 21 c is located below this space 21 m.
- an air flows from the internal air/external air selector housing 11 into the scroll casing 17 .
- the fan 15 causes the air to flow horizontally through the scroll casing 17 .
- the air is dried and cooled until it reaches the lower part of the evaporator 21 .
- the air flows upward and enters the heater core 22 .
- the air is heated within the heater core 22 .
- the hot water flow control valve 24 is employed as a temperature control means to control the flow of hot water fed to the heater core 22 .
- the hot water flow control valve 24 is of the type, a so-called adjustable flow reheat type, which adjusts the flow of the hot water to provide an air of a desired temperature. The air is distributed to a desired air outlet through the rotary door 23 a of the blow mode selector 23 after it is reheated to a desired temperature within the heater core 22 .
- This embodiment offers the following advantages.
- the evaporator 21 and the heater core 22 extend in a substantially horizontal direction and are laminated one above the other. An air is introduced into the evaporator 21 15 from below and then moved upwards. This arrangement eliminates the need for longitudinally extending air ducts and thus, enables a substantial reduction in the size of the air conditioning unit in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.
- the vertical space occupied by the heat exchangers is reduced to allow for mounting of the air conditioning unit in the vehicle easily.
- the heat exchanger pipes 21 a and 22 a extend into the engine compartment A. This arrangement eliminates the need for auxiliary pipes within the passenger compartment B, substantially reduces the production cost, and facilitates coupling of the pipes.
- the evaporator 21 is designed to receive an air from below and is inclined downwardly toward the direction along which the air flows.
- the tubes 21 f of the evaporator 21 are oriented in a direction identical to the direction in which the air flows.
- the air causes a condensed water to flow on the surfaces of the tubes.
- the condensed water is smoothly directed toward the downwardly inclined end (right end in FIG. 2 ) of the evaporator 21 .
- the vertical guide plates 21 k are located below and substantially in contact with the downwardly inclined end of the evaporator 21 .
- a condenses water is directed to the downwardly inclined end of the evaporator 21 and then extended between the front end of the evaporator 21 and each guide plate 21 k .
- the condensed water is continuously moved down along the surface of each guide plate 21 k.
- the condensed water is smoothly moved downward without growing to a large droplet.
- the space 21 m is left between the guide plates 21 k and the side wall 29 a ′ of the lower case 29 a .
- the drain pipe 21 c is located below this space 21 m to smoothly discharge the condensed water after it is moved down along the guide plates 21 k .
- the condensed water forms a bridge or is extended between the guide plates 21 k and the evaporator 21 and is continuously moved down along the surface of each guide plate 21 k.
- the amount of the condensed water left within the evaporator 21 varies depending on the angle ⁇ of inclination of the evaporator 21 as shown in FIG. 7A .
- the evaporator 21 is inclined at an angle ⁇ of 10 to 30 degrees.
- the offset position of the blower 14 and the position of the refrigerant pipe 21 a of the evaporator 21 are laterally reversed.
- the position of the hot water pipe 22 a of the hot water flow control valve 24 in the heater core 22 is laterally reversed.
- the guide plate 21 k has a cross shape to improve drainage of the condensed water.
- the cross-shaped guide plate 21 k has a flange 210 k to stop the flow of the air and prevent upward flow of the air behind the flange 210 k.
- the condensed water can more easily drop behind the flange 210 k for better drainage.
- the guide plate 21 k may have a T-shape to facilitate drainage of the condensed water.
- FIG. 13 shows effects of the second embodiment.
- the vertical axis indicates the flow of air when 12 volts are applied to the fan motor 16 (see FIG. 5 ).
- the horizontal axis indicates the angle of inclination of the evaporator 21 with respect to a horizontal plane.
- the solid line shows the case in which the cross-shaped guide plates 21 k of the second embodiment are provided.
- the broken line shows the case in which no cross-shaped guide plate 21 k is provided.
- the cross-shaped guide plates 21 k promote drainage of the condensate to reduce the amount of the condensed water left within the evaporator 21 and thus, the resistance to flow is also reduced. This results in an increase in the flow of air and thus, in better performance of the air conditioner.
- the evaporator 21 is preferably inclined at an angle ⁇ of 10 to 30 degrees.
- the guide plates 21 k are flat and inclined with respect to the direction of flow of the air.
- the guide plate 21 k has a rear surface 211 k .
- the upward flow of the air is retarded behind the rear surface 211 k so as to allow the condensed water to easily drop behind the rear surface of each guide plate 21 k.
- the lower case 29 a has a wavy portion 21 k ′ at a position below the downwardly inclined end 2 . 0 of the evaporator 21 .
- the wavy portion 21 k ′ corresponds to the guide plates 21 k and functions to direct the condensed water out of the evaporator 21 .
- the guide plates 21 k and the wavy portion 21 K′ are integral with the lower case 29 a , made of resin, to substantially reduce the production cost.
- these members 21 k and 21 k ′ need not be integral with the lower case 29 and may be discrete members with the same function. In such a case, these members 21 k and 21 k ′ may be attached to the lower case 29 or the evaporator 21 by any suitable means.
- an air mixing door 30 as a temperature control means may be employed in lieu of the adjustable flow reheat type using the hot water flow control valve 24 .
- the blow mode selector 23 includes plate-like doors 23 b and 23 c in lieu of the rotary door 23 a .
- the doors 23 b and 23 c serve as a means for allowing a selection of one of the air passages.
- the horizontal evaporator 21 is designed to receive an air from below and direct the air toward the horizontal heater core 22 . This arrangement offers the same effect as in the previous embodiment.
- a further advantage of this air mixture method is that the temperature of the air can be controlled in a wide range, from low to high temperatures.
- the use of the air mixing door 30 sightly increases the height of the unit as compared to the previous embodiment.
- the evaporator 21 is not limited to the laminated type evaporator.
- serpentine type evaporator formed from flat tubes having a serpentine shape and corrugated fins is also available to be used.
- FIGS. 20 to 23 The sixth embodiment is explained with FIGS. 20 to 23 .
- the evaporator 21 is disposed to gradually incline downward along the direction of the air flow which flows into the evaporator 21 from the lower surface of the evaporator 21 , the cooled air through the evaporator 21 flows obliquely into the heater 22 as shown as an arrow D in FIG. 20 . Consequently, a distribution of the air blow speed (shown as air blow speed distribution E in FIG. 20 ) in the right and left direction in Figure, (i.e., along the width direction of the vehicle) in he heater 22 is dispersed.
- the air flow speed passing, through the heater 22 increases as the air flow passes the right side of the heater 22 in the figure as shown as the distribution E. Further, the dispersion of the air blow speed distribution causes a dispersion of heat exchange amount in the right and left side of the heater 22 , so that the air blow temperature also disperses. Consequently, an air conditioning feeling for the automotive air conditioner differs at right and left side of the compartment because of the dispersion of the air blow speed distribution and the air blow temperature, thereby the occupants feel bad air conditioning feeling.
- a plurality of air guide plates 31 is so disposed in the air flow passage between the evaporator 21 and the heater 22 as shown in FIG. 21 that the air blow speed distribution in the heater 22 is uniformed.
- the air guide plate 31 is disposed perpendicularly to an air introduction surface of the heater 22 .
- a plurality of the air guide plates 31 are arranged at the same intervals (in the figure three guide plates are arranged). Since the air guide plates 31 are formed integrally with a resin case (specifically the intermediate case 29 b ) of the air conditioner, the air guide plates can be simply produced in low production cost.
- the air guide plates 31 forcedly guide the air from the evaporator 21 to the heater 22 to flow into the heater 22 perpendicularly to the air introduction surface of the heater 22 . Thereby, the dispersion of the air blow speed distribution in the heater 22 is so improved that the air blow speed distribution can be uniformed as shown as F in FIG. 21 .
- FIG. 22 shows concrete numerical performance based on the inventor's experiments.
- the experiment was performed with three air guide plates 31 and air passages divided into quarters with the guide plates 31 at the side of the air introduction surface of the heater 22 .
- the air blow speed ratio is a ratio between the maximum air blow speed (Vmax) and the minimum air blow speed (vmin).
- Vmax maximum air blow speed
- vmin minimum air blow speed
- the air blow speed distribution of the air flowing into the evaporator 21 is uniformed and a drainage of the condensed water generated on the evaporator 21 is secured compatibly as shown in FIGS. 23A and 23B . Since the air from the blower 14 of the blower unit 1 flows upward by perpendicularly converting under the evaporator 21 , the air blow speed at the forward side (the right side in FIG. 23B ) of the air flow direction becomes high.
- a concave and convex surface 32 having step shape is integrally formed to the resin case (specifically, the intermediate case 29 a ) under the evaporator 21 , thereby uniformity of the air blow speed distribution of the evaporator 21 is achieved.
- the concave and convex surface 32 having the step shape is extended perpendicularly to the air flow (defined as G as shown in FIG. 23B ) from the blower 14 .
- the concave and convex surface 32 has two ridges at each top of the step shape as shown in FIG. 23B and also has a steep slope 32 a at the upstream side and an easy slope 32 b at the downstream side. According to the inventor's experiments, a preferable difference in level between the ridge and bottom of the concave and convex surface 32 is in the range of about 15 to 20 mm to uniform the air blow speed distribution.
- the condensed water H is collected at the bottom of the concave and convex surface 32 .
- the drainage from the condensed water discharge pipe 21 c is performed in some extent by pushing out the condensed water from the bottom of the concave and convex surface 32 with the air flow produced by the blower 14 .
- the condensed water retained on the evaporator 21 drops and pools at the bottom of the concave and convex surface 32 . This may cause a nasty smell.
- drain channels 33 which is lower than the bottom of the concave and convex surface 32 are formed at three locations around the concave and convex surface 32 and are communicated with the condensed water discharge pipe 21 c . Since the lower case 29 a is also inclined along the downward inclination of the evaporator 21 which is along the direction 15 of the air flow, the drain channel 33 is also inclined downward along the direction of the air flow. The discharge pipe 21 c is disposed at the lowest level of the drain channel 33 .
- the drain channels 33 are formed at three portions around the concave and convex surface 32 , however, it is possible to parallely form an additional drain channel 33 at the center of the two parallel drain channels 33 . Further, it is possible to eliminate one of the two parallel drain channels 33 . Still further, the drain channel 33 is designed to be lower level than the bottom of the concave and convex surface 32 in the above embodiment, however, the inventor experimented and confirmed that the condensed water can be discharged even if the drain channel 33 is the same level as the bottom of the concave and convex surface 32 .
- the air mixing door 30 is used as temperature adjusting means.
- the large vertical dimension of the cooling unit is a demerit.
- a slide door 100 which is a flat plate and slides right and left direction in FIG. 25 is proposed in FIG. 25 .
- This slide door 100 can reduce the vertical dimension of the cooling unit.
- a driving gear 102 engages with a intermediate gear 101 .
- the intermediate gear is connected with the slide door 100 .
- the driving gear 102 is driven to rotate, the intermediate gear 101 is rotated and the slide door 100 is moved right and left direction in FIG. 25 .
- FIGS. 26-30 An eighth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 26-30 .
- an engine compartment A and a passenger compartment B is partitioned by a partition C (generally referred as a “fire wall” and made from an iron plate).
- a fan unit 1 of an air conditioner is so located as to be offset from the central portion of the dashboard P in the width direction of the vehicle (e.g., offset to the left wheel the vehicle has a right steering wheel).
- the fan unit 1 has at its upper portion an internal air/external air selector housing 11 for selectively introducing air inside the passenger compartment and air outside the passenger compartment.
- the internal air/external air selector housing 11 is formed with an external air inlet 12 for introducing the external air and an internal air inlet 13 for introducing the internal air.
- an internal/external air selector door (not shown) for opening or closing the external air inlet 12 and the internal air inlet 13 .
- a blower 14 is provided below the internal air/external air selector housing 11 .
- the blower 14 is composed of a centrifugal multiblade fan (scirocco fan) 15 , a fan driving motor 16 , and a scroll casing 17 .
- a rotary shaft of the fan 15 is so arranged as to direct in a substantially vertical direction.
- the air sucked by rotation of the fan 15 from the internal air/external air selector housing 11 through a bellmouth shaped air inlet 18 (see FIG. 30 ) formed at an upper portion of the scroll casing 17 is directed toward an outlet of the scroll casing 17 in a substantially horizontal direction (from the left to the right in the passenger compartment B as understood from FIG. 26 ).
- an air conditioner unit 2 incorporating an air conditioning heat exchanger which will be described later is located at the central portion of the dashboard P in the passenger compartment B in the width direction of the vehicle.
- an evaporator (cooling heat exchanger) 21 of a refrigeration cycle is located substantially horizontally, and the air directed from the fan unit 1 enters the evaporator 21 from its lower side.
- a heater core (heating heat exchanger) 22 is located substantially horizontally on the downstream side of the evaporator 21 with respect to the airflow direction (on the upper side in the passenger compartment).
- the heat core 22 utilizes an engine cooling water (hot water) as a heat source.
- a blow mode selector 23 is located on the upper side of the heat core 22 in the passenger compartment (on the downstream side of the heater core 22 ).
- a hot water flow control valve 24 for controlling a hot water flow to the heater core 22 as temperature control means for controlling temperature of conditioned air, so that the hot water flow to the heater core 22 is controlled by the hot water flow control valve 24 to thereby adjust an amount of heat of air by the heater core 22 and control a temperature of air to be supplied into the passenger compartment.
- the blow mode selector 23 is provided to select a blow mode of air to be supplied into the passenger compartment.
- the selecting member 23 includes a center face air passage 25 communicated with a center face (upper) air outlet (not shown) for discharging air toward the head of a passenger in the passenger compartment, two side face air passages 26 communicated with two side face air outlets (not shown) for discharging air toward the head of the passenger from the right and left sides thereof, two foot air passages 27 communicated with two foot (lower) air outlets (not shown) for discharging air toward the feet of the passenger, and a defroster air passage 28 communicated with a defroster air outlet (not shown) for discharging air toward a windshield.
- the blow mode selector 23 further includes door means (a plate door, a rotary door having a cylindrical outer peripheral surface, or a film door) for selectively opening or closing these air passages 25 , 26 , 27 , and 28 .
- the blow mode selector 23 may have a known structure, and the detailed description thereof will be omitted herein. However, in brief, the blow mode selector 23 has a cylindrical shape extending laterally (in the right-left direction) as shown in FIG. 28 . A rotary door (not shown) is rotatably provided in the blow mode selector 23 and has a cylindrical outer peripheral surface in which openings are defined to allow for the passage of the air.
- the air passages 25 , 26 , 27 , and 28 are selectively opened or closed to select a desired one of a plurality of blow modes including a face blow mode, a bi-level blow mode, a foot blow mode, a defroster blow mode, and a combined foot and defroster blow mode.
- a face blow mode a bi-level blow mode
- a foot blow mode a defroster blow mode
- a combined foot and defroster blow mode a combined foot and defroster blow mode.
- the blow mode selector 23 is not shown for simplicity of illustration.
- the evaporator 21 is slightly inclined with respect to a horizontal plane, so as to improve the drainage of condensed water generated by the cooling operation. That is, as shown in FIGS. 27 and 28 , the evaporator 21 is inclined downward at its one end (in the right direction in FIG. 28 ) corresponding to the forward end of the flow of air directed to the lower side of the evaporator 21 by the blower 14 .
- An angle ⁇ of inclination of the evaporator 21 is set to preferably 10 to 30 degrees to reduce an amount of water retained in the evaporator 21 itself.
- the evaporator 21 is of a known laminated type such that its core portion is formed by laminating a plurality of metal thin plates of aluminum or the like which are superior in heat conductivity and corrosion resistance in a direction perpendicular to the sheet plane of FIG. 30 to construct a plurality of tubes 21 a , and by interposing a corrugated fin (not shown) between each adjacent pair of the plurality of tubes 21 a .
- a tank portion 21 b for distributing a refrigerant to the tubes 21 a and collecting the refrigerant from the tubes 21 a is provided at one end of the evaporator 21 .
- a thermal type expansion valve 21 c is provided adjacent to the tank portion 21 b and reduces the pressure of the refrigerant flowing into the evaporator 21 to expand the refrigerant.
- the tubes 21 a of the evaporator 21 extend in the same direction as the flowing direction of the air from the blower 14 (from the left to the right in FIG. 28 ). Accordingly, the condensed water is forced by the air flow to smoothly flow on the surfaces of the tubes 21 a to the lower end of the inclined evaporator 21 (the right end in FIG. 28 ).
- the condensed water generated in the evaporator 21 is discharged from a condensed water drain pipe 21 d provided below the lower end of the inclined evaporator 21 on the lower side thereof (on the upstream side of the evaporator 21 ).
- the pipe 21 d is integrally formed with a resin lower case 29 a (see FIG. 30 ) of resin at its lowermost portion.
- An air guide plate 30 is located below the evaporator 21 , that is, on the upstream side of the evaporator 21 , in such a manner as to extend along the air flow from the blower 14 .
- the air guide plate 30 is integrally formed with the resin lower case 29 a .
- the air guide plate 30 serves to uniform an air blow speed distribution of air passing through the evaporator 21 in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.
- an upper surface 30 a of the air guide plate 30 is inclined along the inclined lower surface of the evaporator 21 .
- the inclined upper surface 30 a of the air guide plate 30 is in contact with the inclined lower surface of the evaporator 21 to thereby support the evaporator 21 .
- the air passage formed below the evaporator 21 is partitioned into two independent passages by the air guide plate 30 .
- FIG. 30 shows a structure where the apparatus is assembled in this embodiment.
- the fan 15 of the blower 14 is integrally connected to a rotary shaft 16 a of the motor 16 , and then inserted into the scroll casing 17 formed integrally with the resin lower case 29 a .
- the motor 16 is fixedly mounted at its flange portion 16 b to the scroll casing 17 .
- the evaporator 21 is placed on an mounting surface of the lower case 29 a , and a resin intermediate case 29 b is put on the lower case 29 a so as to sandwich the evaporator 21 .
- the evaporator 21 is fixed between the lower case 29 a and the intermediate case 29 b.
- An upper cover portion 17 a of the scroll casing 17 is formed integrally with the intermediate case 29 b .
- the upper cover portion 17 a has the bellmouth shaped air inlet 18 described above.
- the internal air/external air selector housing 11 is located on the bellmouth shaped air inlet 18 and integrally mounted thereto.
- the heater core 22 and the hot water flow control valve 24 are placed on a mounting surface of the intermediate case 29 b , and a resin upper case 29 c is put on the intermediate case 29 b so as to sandwich the heater core 22 and the hot water flow control valve 24 .
- the heater core 22 and the hot water flow control valve 24 are fixed between the intermediate case 29 b and the upper case 29 c.
- the upper case 29 c is provided with the blow mode selector 23 , center face air passage 25 , side face air passages 26 , foot air passages 27 , and defroster air passage 28 . Further, the rotary door (not shown) is built in the upper case 29 c .
- the cases 29 a , 29 b , and 29 c and the internal air/external air selector housing 11 are detachably connected by using metal clips having elasticity or screws.
- the air flowing into the internal air/external air selector housing 11 is directed into the scroll casing 17 by the fan 15 , and flows substantially horizontally in the scroll casing 17 to the lower side of the evaporator 21 . Then, the air is dehumidified and cooled in the evaporator 21 , and flows upward to enter the heater core 22 , in which the air is heated.
- the hot water flow control valve 24 for controlling the amount of hot water to be supplied to the heater core 22 is used as conditioned air temperature control means. That is, a so-called flow control reheat system is adopted to obtain a desired blow air temperature by controlling the amount of hot water in the hot water flow control valve 24 .
- the conditioned air reheated to a desired temperature in the heater core 22 is distributed to a predetermined air passage selected by the rotary door of the blow mode selector 23 in the upper case 29 c.
- the evaporator 21 and the heater core 22 are located substantially horizontally and laminated vertically (one above the other), a vertical space for the heat exchanger can be greatly reduced.
- the vertical dimension of the air conditioning unit can be made sufficiently smaller than that of the conventional center-layout unit.
- the dimension in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle can also be reduced.
- the air conditioning unit can be made greatly compact, and it can be easily installed in the passenger compartment.
- the air conditioning unit can be easily assembled by one-directional assembling such that the components are vertically laminated, so that the number of the assembling steps in the mass-production can be reduced.
- the condensed water is discharged from the drain pipe 21 d located below the lower end of the inclined evaporator 21 .
- the condensed water can be smoothly discharged from the evaporator 21 .
- FIG. 29 is a cross section taken along the line C-C in FIG. 28 .
- a winding end portion 17 b of the scroll casing 17 of the blower 14 is connected to a portion of the lower case 29 a below the evaporator 21 , and a connecting portion between the winding end portion 17 b and the lower case 29 a extends substantially parallel to the width direction of the vehicle (see FIG. 26 ).
- the air guide plate 30 is so arranged as to extend substantially parallel to the width direction of the vehicle.
- a flowing direction D of air directed from the winding end portion 17 b of the scroll casing 17 is coincident with a direction of a tangent to the winding end portion 17 b , and the flowing direction D is headed for a region R on the side of the passenger compartment in the lower case 29 a.
- the air blow speed distribution of air passing through the evaporator 21 in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle may become non-uniform such that the air blow speed in the region R on the side of passenger compartment is higher than that in the region E on the side of the engine compartment.
- Such a non-uniform air blow speed distribution causes problems in deterioration of the heat exchanging efficiency in the evaporator 21 .
- the inventors measured the above air blow speed by using an experimental device shown in FIGS. 31 and 32 on both a comparison sample without having the air guide plate 30 and this embodiment having the air guide plate 30 .
- the experimental device shown in FIGS. 31 and 32 is constructed by removing the heater core 22 and the like on the downstream side of the evaporator 21 and placing an air blow speed measuring duct F divided into eight portions.
- E 1 to E 4 denote four openings on the side of engine compartment, of the air blow speed measuring duct F, and R 1 to R 4 denote four opening portions on the side of the passenger compartment.
- TABLES 1A and 1B show the results of measurement of the air blow speed by using the above experimental device, in which TABLE 1 shows the result of the comparison sample without having the air guide plate 30 , and TABLE 2 shows the result of this embodiment having the air guide plate 30 .
- portions 1 - 4 respectively correspond to the numerals 1 - 4 given to each opening portion.
- the blower 14 is operated by applying voltage of 12 V to the driving motor 16 .
- SIDE AVERAGE SPEED 8.1 ENGINE SIDE/PASSENGER COMPARTMENT SIDE 0.92
- the air velocities at opening portions R 1 to R 4 on the side of the engine compartment are higher than those at opening portions El to E 4 on the side of the passenger compartment, for the aforementioned reason.
- an average air blow speed on the side of the engine compartment is 7.5 m/s
- the flowing direction D of air directed from the winding end portion 17 b of the scroll casing 17 toward the region R on the side of the passenger compartment 15 can be changed toward the region R on the side of the engine compartment. Accordingly, as shown in TABLE 1B, the average air blow speed on the side of the engine compartment and the average air blow speed on the side of the passenger compartment can approach each other so that the average air blow speed on the side of the engine compartment is increased up to 7.9 m/s and the average air blow speed on the side of the passenger compartment is decreased down to 7.7 m/s.
- the difference between the two average air velocities can be reduced to a minute value around an error.
- the flowing direction D of air from the winding end portion 17 b of the scroll casing 17 cannot be changed toward the region E on the side of the engine compartment, because it may cause problems such as a deterioration of the performance of the blower and an increase of the installation space in the passenger compartment.
- FIG. 33 shows a ninth embodiment of the present invention.
- two air guide plates 30 are provided to partition the air passage below the evaporator 21 into three independent regions (passages) E, M, and R.
- the other configuration is the same as that of the eighth embodiment.
- FIG. 34 shows a tenth embodiment of the present invention.
- a gently curved portion 30 a along the air flow from the centrifugal fan 15 is formed at one end of the air guide plate 30 on the side of the centrifugal fan 15 .
- the air from the centrifugal fan 15 can be more smoothly guided to the region E on the side of the engine compartment. Accordingly, turbulence or the like of the air flow due to the installation of the air guide plate 30 can be suppressed.
- the evaporator 21 is inclined downward at its one end corresponding to the forward end of the air flow below the evaporator 21 , so that the air flows obliquely from the evaporator 21 into the heater core 22 .
- the evaporator 21 is inclined downward at its one end corresponding to the forward end of the air flow below the evaporator 21 , so that the air flows obliquely from the evaporator 21 into the heater core 22 .
- the variations in air blow speed cause variations in heat exchanging amount in the left and right portions of the heater core 22 , thus resulting in variations in temperature of the blow air. Accordingly, a feeling of the conditioned air by the air conditioner becomes non-uniform in the left side and the right side in the passenger compartment, because of these variations in air blow speed and temperature of the air, thus causing a deterioration in feeling of conditioned air.
- a plurality of air distributing plates 31 is provided in an air passage formed between the evaporator 21 and the heater core 22 , so as to uniform the air blow speed distribution in the width direction of the vehicle.
- the air distributing plates 31 are arranged at intervals so as to be perpendicular to an air receiving surface of the heater core 22 , and the intervals of the plural (three in this embodiment) plates 31 are set equal to each other.
- the air distributing plates 31 are formed integrally with the resin case of the air conditioning unit 2 , more specifically, with the intermediate case 29 b . Accordingly, the air distributing plates 31 can be formed simply at a low cost.
- the air passed through the evaporator 21 is forcibly guided by the air distributing plates 31 located just downstream of the outlet of the evaporator 21 , and then flows normally to the air receiving surface of the heater core 22 . Accordingly, variations in air blow speed distribution in the width direction of the heater core 22 can be greatly reduced to uniform the air blow speed distribution in the heater core 22 .
- the twelfth embodiment is intended both to uniform an air blow speed distribution of air flowing into the evaporator 21 in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle by using the air guide plate 30 and to uniform an air blow speed distribution of air flowing into the evaporator 21 in the width direction of the vehicle.
- the air blow speed at the forward end of the air flow below the evaporator 21 (the right end in FIG. 36 ) becomes higher than that at the other area.
- the air guide plate 30 is formed integrally with the resin case located below the evaporator 21 , more specifically, with the lower case 29 a , and a stepped concave and convex surface 32 is further formed integrally with the lower case 29 a , thereby making uniform the air blow speed distributions in the evaporator 21 both in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle and in the width direction of the vehicle.
- the stepped concave and convex surface 32 extends in a direction (the longitudinal direction of the vehicle) perpendicular to the direction of the air flow from the blower 14 (the width direction in FIG. 36 ).
- the stepped concave and convex surface 32 is formed as a two-stepped surface having upper surfaces and lower surfaces. According to an experimental result by the inventors, it has become apparent that the height of each step between the adjacent upper and lower surfaces is preferably set to about 15 to 20 mm to uniform the air blow speed distribution.
- the evaporator 21 is not limited to the aforementioned laminated type, but any other types may be adopted.
- the evaporator 21 may be of a serpentine type in which a multihole flat tube is meanderingly bent and a corrugated fin is combined with the bent tube.
- FIGS. 37 to 43 show a thirteenth embodiment of the present invention applied to an air conditioner for an automobile.
- an engine compartment A and a passenger compartment B is partitioned by a partition C (generally referred as a “fire wall” and made from an iron plate).
- a fan unit 1 of an air conditioner is so located as to be offset from the central portion of the dashboard P in the width direction of the vehicle (e.g., offset to the left wheel the vehicle has a right steering wheel).
- the fan unit 1 has at its upper portion an internal air/external air selector housing 11 for selectively introducing air inside the passenger compartment and air outside the passenger compartment.
- the internal air/external air selector housing 11 is formed with an external air inlet 12 for introducing the external air and an internal air inlet 13 for introducing the internal air.
- an internal/external air selector door (not shown) for opening or closing the external air inlet 12 and the internal air inlet 13 .
- the fan unit 1 has at its upper portion an internal air/external air selector housing 11 for selectively introducing air internal the passenger compartment and air outside the passenger compartment.
- the internal air/external air selector housing 11 is formed with an external air inlet 12 for introducing the internal air and an internal air inlet 13 for introducing the external air.
- an internal air/external air selector door (not shown) for opening and closing the external air inlet 12 and the internal air inlet 13 .
- a blower 14 is provided below the internal air/external air selector housing 11 .
- the blower 14 is composed of a centrifugal multi-blade fan (scirocco fan) 15 , a fan motor 16 , and a scroll casing 17 .
- a rotary shaft of the fan 15 is so arranged as to direct in a substantially vertical direction.
- the air sucked by rotation of the fan 15 from the internal air/external air selector housing 11 through a bellmouth shaped air inlet 18 (see FIG. 41 ) formed at an upper portion of the scroll casing 17 is directed toward an outlet of the scroll casing 17 in a substantially horizontal direction (from the left to the right in the passenger compartment B as understood from FIGS. 37 and 38 ).
- an air conditioner unit 2 incorporating an air conditioning heat exchanger which will be described later is located at the central portion of the dashboard P in the passenger compartment B in the width direction of the vehicle.
- an evaporator (cooling heat exchanger) 21 of a refrigeration cycle is located substantially horizontally. The air directed from the fan unit 1 enters the evaporator 21 from its lower side, and flows upward.
- a heater core (heating heat exchanger) 22 is located substantially horizontally on the downstream side of the evaporator 21 with respect to the airflow direction (on the upper side in the passenger compartment).
- the heat core 22 utilizes an engine cooling water (hot water) as a heat source.
- a blow mode selector 23 is located on the upper side of the heat core 22 in the passenger compartment (on the downstream side of the heater core 22 ).
- a hot water flow control valve 24 for controlling a hot water flow to the heater core 22 as temperature control means for controlling temperature of conditioned air, so that the hot water flow to the heater core 22 is controlled by the hot water flow control valve 24 to thereby adjust an amount of heat of air by the heater core 22 and control a temperature of air to be supplied into the passenger compartment.
- the blow mode selector 23 is provided to select a blow mode of air to be supplied into the passenger compartment.
- the blow mode selector 23 includes a center face air passage communicated with a center face (upper) air outlet (not shown) for discharging air toward the head of a passenger in the passenger compartment, two side face air passages 26 communicated with two side face air outlets (not shown) for discharging air toward the head of the passenger from the right and left sides thereof, two foot air passages 27 communicated with two foot (lower) air outlets (not shown) for discharging air toward the feet of the passenger, and a defroster air passage 28 communicated with a defroster air outlet (not shown) for discharging air toward a windshield. As shown in FIG.
- the blow mode selector 23 further includes door means (plate door, rotary door having a cylindrical outer peripheral surface, or film door) for selectively opening or closing these air passages 25 , 26 , 27 , and 28 .
- the blow mode selector 23 may have a known structure, and the detailed description thereof will be omitted herein. However, in brief, the blow mode selector 23 has a cylindrical shape extending laterally as viewed in FIG. 39 .
- a rotary door (not shown) is rotatably provided in the blow mode selector 23 and has a cylindrical outer peripheral surface in which openings are defined to allow for the air passages. By selecting a rotational position of the rotary door, the air passages 25 , 26 , 27 , and 28 are selectively opened or closed to select a desired one of a plurality of blow modes including a face blow mode, a bi-level blow mode, a foot blow mode, a defroster blow mode, and a combined foot and defroster blow mode.
- the evaporator 21 is provided with a thermal type expansion valve 21 a (see FIG. 41 ) as pressure reducing means for reducing the pressure of a refrigerant from a high-pressure refrigerant piping of a refrigeration cycle to thereby expand the refrigerant.
- the evaporator 21 is slightly inclined with respect to a horizontal plane, so as to improve the drainage of condensed water generated by the cooling operation. That is, as shown in FIG. 39 , the evaporator 21 is inclined downward at its one end (right end as viewed in FIG. 39 ) corresponding to the forward end of the flow of air directed to the lower side of the evaporator 21 by the blower 14 .
- An inclination angle ⁇ of the evaporator 21 is set to preferably 10 to 30 degrees to reduce an amount of water retained in the evaporator 21 itself.
- the evaporator 21 is of a known laminated type such that its core portion 21 d is formed by laminating a plurality of metal thin plates of aluminum or the like which is superior in heat conductivity and corrosion resistance in a vertical direction in FIG. 42 to construct a plurality of tubes 21 b , and by interposing a corrugated fin 21 c between each pair of adjacent tubes 21 b.
- a tank portion 21 e is provided at one end of the core portion 21 d to distribute the refrigerant to the tubes 21 b and collect the refrigerant from the tubes 21 b .
- the tank portion 21 e is provided with a refrigerant inlet 21 g for introducing the refrigerant of two phases of gas and liquid reduced in pressure by the expansion valve 21 a and with a refrigerant outlet 21 h for discharging the refrigerant of gas evaporated in the core portion 21 a.
- the tank portion 21 e is located at the upper end of the inclined evaporator 21 , and the tubes 21 b are so located as to extend in the same direction as the blowing direction of air directed from the blower 14 (the direction from the left to the right as viewed in FIGS. 39 and 40 ). Accordingly, the condensed water generated in the evaporator 21 is forced by the air flow from the blower 14 to smoothly flow on the surfaces of the tubes 21 b to the lower end of the inclined evaporator 21 (the right end in FIGS. 39 and 40 ).
- the condensed water generated in the evaporator 21 is discharged from a condensed water drain pipe 30 provided below the lower end of the inclined evaporator 21 on the upstream side of the evaporator 21 .
- the drain pipe 30 is formed integrally with a lower case 29 a of resin (see FIG. 41 ) at its lowermost portion.
- the corrugated fin 21 c has a flat surface 21 i and a louver 21 j for guiding the air flow from the blower 14 obliquely with respect to the flat surface 21 i .
- the louver 21 j is formed integrally with the flat surface 21 i by cutting and bending as by roller forming.
- the louver 21 j serves to cut off a thermal boundary layer in the flat surface 21 i , thereby improving a heat transfer coefficient.
- the louver 21 j is inclined with respect to the flat surface 21 i in adverse directions on the upstream side and the downstream side of the flat surface 21 i . Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 40 , the air flow in the evaporator 21 becomes V-shaped.
- the direction of inclination of the louver 21 j to the flat surface 21 i is so set as to offset non-uniformity of air blow speed distribution of air passed through the evaporator 21 in the width direction of the vehicle, as described later. More specifically, the direction of inclination of at least a downstream portion of the louver 21 j is set so that the air flow at the downstream portion is directed toward the tank portion 21 e.
- FIG. 41 shows a structure where the apparatus in this embodiment is assembled.
- the fan 15 of the blower 14 is integrally connected to a rotating shaft 16 a of the motor 16 , and next inserted into the scroll casing 17 formed integrally with the resin lower case 29 a .
- the motor 16 is fixedly mounted at its flange portion 16 b to the scroll casing 17 .
- the evaporator 21 is placed on an mounting surface of the lower case 29 a , and a resin intermediate case 29 b is put on the lower case 29 a so as to sandwich the evaporator 21 .
- the evaporator 21 is fixed between the lower case 29 a and the intermediate case 29 b.
- An upper cover portion 17 a of the scroll casing 17 is formed integrally with the intermediate case 29 b .
- the upper cover portion 17 a has the bellmouth shaped air inlet 18 .
- the internal air/external air selector housing 11 is located on the bellmouth shaped air inlet 18 and integrally mounted thereto.
- the heater core 22 and the hot water control valve 24 are placed on a mounting surface of the intermediate case 29 b , and a resin upper case 29 c of resin is put on the intermediate case 29 b so as to sandwich the heater core 22 and the hot water control valve 24 .
- the heater core 22 and the hot water control valve 24 are fixed between the intermediate case 29 b and the upper case 29 c.
- the upper case 29 c is provided with the blow mode selector 23 , center face air passage 25 , side face air passages 26 , foot air passages 27 , and defroster air passage 28 . Further, the rotary door (not shown) is incorporated in the upper case 29 c .
- the cases 29 a , 29 b , and 29 c and the internal air/external air selector housing 11 are detachably connected by using metal clips having elasticity or screws.
- the air flowing into the internal air/external air selector housing 11 is directed into the scroll casing 17 by the fan 15 , and flows substantially horizontally in the scroll casing 17 to the lower side of the evaporator 21 . Then, the air flow changes its direction to a vertical direction to enter the evaporator 21 , and the air is dehumidified and cooled in the evaporator 21 . Then the air flows upward to enter the heater core 22 , in which the air is heated.
- the hot water control valve 24 for controlling the amount of hot water to be supplied to the heater core 22 is used as conditioned air temperature, control means. That is, a so-called flow control reheat system is adopted to obtain a desired blowing air temperature by controlling the amount of hot water in the hot water control valve 24 .
- the conditioned air reheated to a desired temperature in the heater core 22 is distributed to a predetermined air passage selected by the rotary door of the blow mode selector 23 in the upper case 29 c , and is discharged from the predetermined air outlet into the passenger compartment.
- the air conditioning unit can be made greatly compact, and it can be easily installed in the passenger compartment.
- the air conditioning unit can be easily assembled by one-directional assembling such that the components are vertically laminated, so that the number of the assembling steps can be reduced.
- the condensed water in the evaporator 21 can be forced by the air flow to smoothly flow on the surfaces of the tubes 21 b and be collected at the end of the inclined evaporator 21 (the right end in FIGS. 39 and 40 ).
- the condensed water is discharged from the drain pipe 30 located below the lower end of the inclined evaporator 21 .
- the condensed water can be smoothly discharged from the evaporator 21 .
- FIGS. 44A and 44B show a comparison sample on which the inventors have experimented for the air blow speed distribution.
- the air from the blower 14 is directed substantially horizontally so as to reach the lower side of the evaporator 21 , and then flows through the evaporator 21 from the lower side to the upper side while its direction is changed from the substantially horizontal direction to the substantially vertical direction.
- a main stream of the air flow is directed toward one end of the evaporator 21 corresponding to the forward end of the air flow (the right side in FIG. 44A ) by the inertia of the air flow.
- the direction of inclination of the louver 21 j of the corrugated fin 21 c is set so that the air is directed toward the left side in FIG. 45A (toward the side of the tank portion 21 e ). Accordingly, the air having passed through the evaporator 21 is directed along the inclination of the louver 21 j toward the side of the other end of the evaporator 21 (the left side in FIG. 45A ) as shown by the arrows c in FIG. 45A .
- this embodiment adopts such a layout that the air flow is changed in its direction from the substantially horizontal direction to the substantially vertical direction before entering the evaporator 21 and that the evaporator 21 is inclined downward at its one end corresponding to the forward end of the air flow, the air blow speed of air having passed through the evaporator 21 can be made substantially uniform in the width direction of the vehicle as shown by the arrows d in FIG. 45B .
- variations in the air blow speed distribution can be remarkably reduced.
- the evaporator 21 is not limited to the aforementioned laminated type, but any other types may be adopted.
- the evaporator 21 may be of a serpentine type in which a multihole flat tube is meanderingly bent and a corrugated fin is combined with the bent tube.
Abstract
An automotive air conditioner comprises an offset blower for blowing an air, an evaporator is centrally disposed within a dashboard and receives the air from below, and a heater approximately horizontally disposed above the evaporator. The evaporator inclines downward along the direction of the air flow. A plurality of condensed water guide plates are provided under the evaporator so as to allow a condensed water smoothly flow on the surface of each guide plate and is discharged from the evaporator through a condensed water drain pipe.
Description
- This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/531,531 filed on Mar. 21, 2000; which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/460,795 filed Dec. 15, 1999; which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/038,902 filed Mar. 12, 1995; which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/731,792 filed Oct. 18, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,755,107; which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/531,373 filed Sep. 21, 1995, now abandoned. This application claims the benefit of JP 7-281479 filed Oct. 30, 1995; JP 7-270148 filed Oct. 18, 1995; JP 7-235505 filed Sep. 13, 1995; JP 7-220903 filed Sep. 29, 1995; JP 6-240362 filed Oct. 04, 1994; and JP 6-227592 filed Sep. 22, 1994. The disclosures of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference.
- 1. Field of the Invention
- The present invention relates to an automotive air conditioner, more particularly , to an arrangement for the automotive air conditioner unit having heat exchangers which is disposed in approximately horizontal direction and introduces the air generated by a blower from lower sides of the heat exchangers.
- 2. Description of the Related Art
- Generally, a conventional automotive air conditioner adopts so called “lateral layout”. This lateral layout is, as shown in
FIG. 17 , that afan unit 1, acooler unit 2 a and aheater unit 2 b are arranged in line in the lateral (width) direction of the vehicle. -
FIG. 18 shows the manner in which the lateral layout air conditioner is mounted within the vehicle. The vehicle has an instrumental panel or dashboard P. Thefan unit 1, thecooler unit 2 a and theheater unit 2 b collectively occupy a almost half space (which is formed in front of a passenger seat) in the dashboard P along the width direction of the vehicle. - Recently, a vehicle is provided with a great number of electronic components such as computers, a compact disk player, a passenger air bag and other automotive accessaries. This results in a decrease in the space within the dashboard P and thus, makes it difficult to mount such a lateral layout air conditioner within the dashboard.
- As shown in
FIG. 19 , there is shown another type ofconventional air conditioner 2 arranged centrally within a vehicle and including, as a unit, a cooler orevaporator 21 and aheater core 22. Theevaporator 21 and theheater core 22 are arranged one after the other in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. Afan unit 1 is offset laterally from the central portion of the vehicle. - This type of arrangement is so called center layout. The center layout provides a sufficient space within the dashboard to mount the
evaporator 21 and theheater core 22 since these components are both located at the center of the vehicle. However, since these heat exchangers (evaporator 21 and heater core 22) are vertically arranged one above the other in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle, it is necessary to provide an air duct in front of theevaporator 21 so as to receive an air from thefan unit 1. By the same way, it is necessary to provide another air duct behind theheater core 22 to allow an air flow from theheater core 22. - Consequently, those air ducts results in an increase in the overall length of the air conditioner.
- This increase makes it difficult to mount a blow mode selector behind the
heater core 22. To this end, the blow mode selector may be arranged above theheater core 22. However, this arrangement brings about an increase in the height of the air conditioner. - Thus, such a center layout air conditioner is also difficult to mount with a lot of electric components in the dashboard.
- In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide a compact automotive air conditioner which enables mounting heat exchangers within a narrow vehicular space.
- It is another object of the present invention to provide an automotive air conditioner which promotes drainage of condensation from an evaporator.
- To achieve the above objects, the present invention adopted the following construction.
- In one preferred mode of the present invention, an automotive air conditioner includes a blower, a cooling heat exchanger, a heating heat exchanger, and a blow mode selector.
- The blower blows an air. The cooling heat exchanger is approximately horizontally disposed between a dashboard within a passenger compartment and an engine room and receives the air from its bottom side to an upward direction. The heating heat exchanger is approximately horizontally disposed over the cooling heat exchanger and heats the air. The blow mode selector is disposed downstream of the heating heat exchanger and changes the direction of the air flown after the air is heated to a controlled temperature by the heating heat exchanger.
- In another preferred mode of the present invention, the blower is disposed between a dashboard within a passenger compartment and an engine room and offset in width direction of a vehicle from the center of a width of vehicle.
- Preferably, the cooling heat exchanger gradually inclines downward along the direction of the air flow which is generated by the blower.
- Preferably, the cooling heat exchanger is inclined at an angle of 10 to 30 degrees with respect to a horizontal plane.
- Preferably, the air conditioner includes a case for directing the air from the blower to the cooling heat exchanger The case has a condensed water drain pipe for draining condensed water at a position below an air flow end of downwardly inclined the cooling heat exchanger.
- Preferably, the automotive air conditioner includes guide elements located below the cooling heat exchanger. The guide elements are substantially in contact therewith.
- Preferably, the case has a concave and convex surface having step shape and extending in a width direction of the case to equal an air blow speed distribution measured by an air blow speed of the air introduced into the cooling heat exchanger at a bottom surface of the cooling heat exchanger.
- Preferably, the blower includes a scroll casing disposed approximately horizontally, and the scroll casing has a winding end portion connected to an air passage below the cooling heat exchanger. Further, an air guide plate is disposed on a downstream side of the cooling heat exchanger and extends from the scroll casing along the air flow direction In this way, the blow air by the blower from the scroll casing is guided by the air guide plate, and the air blow speed distribution in the longitudinal direction of the automobile can be uniformed. Accordingly, the uniform heat exchange can be performed in each portion of the cooling heat exchanger, thus improving the heat exchanging efficiency and contributing to the uniformity of the air blow speed distribution of the air flowing into the heating heat exchanger.
- Preferably, an upper surface of the air guide plate contacts with a bottom surface of the cooling heat exchanger so that the air guide plate supports the said cooling heat exchanger.
- Preferably, the air guide plate partitions an air passage below the cooling heat exchanger into plural independent passages.
- Preferably, the air guide plate includes a curved portion on an end thereof on a side of a centrifugal fan of the blower, and the curved portion is bent smoothly along the air flow from the centrifugal fan.
- Preferably, a unit case for containing the cooling heat exchanger is included, and the winding end portion is connected to a portion corresponding to a lower side portion of the cooling heat exchanger, of the unit case. Further, a portion leading from the winding end portion to the unit case, of the scroll casing, extends approximately parallel to a width direction of the automobile, and the air guide plate is disposed approximately parallel to a width direction of the automobile.
- Preferably, a plurality of air distributing plates is disposed in a space between the cooling heat exchanger and the heating heat exchanger, for uniforming air blow speed distribution of air in the heating heat exchanger in a width direction of the automobile.
- Preferably, a unit case for containing the cooling heat exchanger is included, and the unit case includes a stepped concave and convex portion on a portion thereof corresponding to a lower portion of the cooling heat exchanger, for uniforming air blow speed distribution of air flowing into the cooling heat exchanger in a width direction of the automobile.
- Preferably, an air conditioning unit case for containing the cooling heat exchanger and the heating heat exchanger and for forming an air passage in which air generated by said blower passes is included, and a direction of the air passage is changed from a horizontal direction to a vertical direction toward the downstream side. Further, the cooling heat exchanger includes a plurality of tubes in which heating medium for being heat exchanged with air which is generated by said blower passes, and a corrugated fin connected between each pair of the adjacent tubes, and the corrugated fin has a fin flat surface and is provided with louvers for guiding air which is generated by said blower toward an inclination direction against the fin flat surface. The inclination direction being is so as to offset non-uniformity of air blow speed distribution of air due to the changing direction of the air passage in said air conditioning unit case.
- Preferably, the inclination directions of the louvers of the corrugated fin on an upstream side and on the downstream side of said fin flat surface are reversed against each other, and the inclination direction of the louver of the corrugated fin at least on the downstream side is set so as to offset the non-uniformity of air blow speed distribution of air.
- Preferably, the cooling heat exchanger inclines downward with a minute angle along the forwarding direction of the air flow which is generated by said blower, and the plurality of tubes is disposed so as to extend below said cooling heat exchanger along the blowing direction of the air flow which is generated by said blower. Further, the cooling heat exchanger includes a tank portion for distributing and receiving the heating medium against the plurality of tubes on an upper end portion thereof in the inclination direction, and the inclination direction of the louver of the corrugated fin at least on the downstream side is set so as to direct the air flow by the blower toward the tank portion.
- In another preferred mode of the present invention, blower is disposed so as to be offset from a central portion of a dashboard in a width direction of an automobile, a cooling heat exchanger is approximately horizontally disposed within a dashboard, for receiving from its bottom side the air blown by the blower, cooling the air, and leading the cooled air toward an upward direction, and a heating heat exchanger is approximately horizontally disposed over the cooling heat exchanger in the central portion of a dashboard and for heating the air.
- In further another preferred mode of the present invention, a blower is disposed so as to be offset from a central portion of a dashboard in a width direction of an automobile, a cooling heat exchanger is approximately horizontally disposed within a dashboard, for receiving from its bottom side the air blown by the blower, cooling the air, and leading the cooled air toward an upward direction, and a blow mode selector is disposed over the cooling heat exchanger and for changing the blowing direction of the air passing through the cooling heat exchanger.
- In still another preferred mode of the present invention, a blower is disposed so as to be offset from a central portion of a dashboard in a width direction of an automobile, a heating heat exchanger is approximately horizontally disposed, for receiving the air from its bottom side the air blown by the blower, heating the air, and leading the heated air toward an upward direction, and a blow mode selector disposed over the heating heat exchanger and for changing the blowing direction of the air passing through the heating heat exchanger.
- According to these preferred modes, both of the cooling heat exchanger and the heating heat exchanger are located substantially horizontally and laminated vertically (one above the other), a vertical space for the heat exchanger portion can be greatly reduced. As a result, the vertical dimension of the air conditioning unit can be made sufficiently smaller than that of the conventional center-layout unit.
- Further, because the vertical dimension of the air conditioning unit can be made sufficiently small as described above, even when the blow mode selector is disposed over the heating heat exchanger, the vertical dimension of the entire air conditioning apparatus can be suppressed from increasing.
- Further, because it is unnecessary to provide blowing ducts on the front and rear sides of the heat exchanger portion, the dimension in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle can also be reduced.
- The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompany drawings.
-
FIG. 1 is a plan view of an automotive air conditioner according to a first embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 2 is a front view of the air conditioner shown inFIG. 1 ; -
FIG. 3 is a schematic view, in plane, showing the air conditioner of the first embodiment mounted within a vehicle; -
FIG. 4 is a schematic view, in perspective, showing the air conditioner of the first embodiment mounted within the vehicle; -
FIG. 5 is a disassembled view of the air conditioner of the first embodiment; -
FIG. 6 is side view showing the relationship between the air conditioner of the first embodiment and a partition located between an engine compartment and a passenger compartment; -
FIG. 7A is a graph showing the relationship between the angle θ of inclination of an evaporator used in the first embodiment and the retained amount of condensed water which is left within the evaporator; -
FIG. 7B is a perspective view showing the structure of the evaporator; -
FIG. 8A is a sectional view showing the manner in which the condensate drops from the evaporator in the event that the air conditioner is provided with no guide plate; -
FIG. 8B is a sectional view of the evaporator as viewed from right inFIG. 8A ; -
FIG. 9A is a sectional view of the evaporator associated with guide plates; -
FIG. 9B is a sectional view of the evaporator as viewed from right inFIG. 9A ; -
FIG. 9C is a partial enlarged view of the guide plate of the evaporator shown inFIG. 9B ; -
FIGS. 10A and 10B show the automotive air conditioner of the first embodiment arranged for a right steering wheel vehicle; -
FIGS. 11A and 11B show the automotive air conditioner of the first embodiment arranged for a left steering wheel vehicle; -
FIGS. 12A and 12B are sectional and plan views, respectively showing a guide plate used in a second embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 13 is a graph showing the relationship between the inclined angle θ of the evaporator and the amount of air to better drainage of the condensed water with the guide plates used in the second embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 14 illustrates guide plates used in a third embodiment of the present invention; -
FIGS. 15A and 15B are sectional and plan views of the air conditioner having guide plates used in a fourth embodiment of the present invention, respectively; -
FIG. 16 is a sectional side view of the second embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 17 is a perspective view of a lateral layout type automotive air conditioner in the prior art; -
FIG. 18 is a perspective view showing an automotive air conditioner arranged laterally within a vehicle in the prior art; -
FIG. 19 is a perspective view of a center layout automotive air conditioner arranged within a vehicle in the prior-art; -
FIG. 20 is a schematic view of the main part of the cooling unit to show the air blow speed distribution; -
FIG. 21 is a schematic view of the main part of the cooling unit in the sixth embodiment to show the air blow speed distribution; -
FIG. 22 is a graph showing the relationship between air blow speed ratio and air guide plates; -
FIG. 23A is a top view of the unit case (the evaporator and heater are eliminated) in the seventh embodiment; -
FIG. 23B is a side sectional view of the unit case and the evaporator to show a bottom shape of the unit case in the seventh embodiment; -
FIG. 24A is a top view of the unit case (the evaporator and heater are eliminated) in modified example of the seventh embodiment; -
FIG. 24B is a side sectional view of the unit case and the evaporator to show a bottom shape of the unit case in modified example of the seventh embodiment; -
FIG. 25 is a schematic sectional view of the unit case to show a slide door: -
FIG. 26 is a plan view of an automotive air conditioner according to an eighth embodiment; -
FIG. 27 is a perspective view of the automotive air conditioner according to the eighth embodiment; -
FIG. 28 is a front view of an automotive air conditioner according to the eighth embodiment; -
FIG. 29 is a sectional view taken along the line C-C ofFIG. 28 ; -
FIG. 30 is a disassembled view of the air conditioner of the eighth embodiment; -
FIG. 31 is a plane view showing an experimental device on both a comparison sample and the eighth embodiment; -
FIG. 32 is a front view of the experimental device; -
FIG. 33 is a sectional view showing a main portion of a ninth embodiment; -
FIG. 34 is a sectional view showing a main portion of a tenth embodiment; -
FIG. 35 is a perspective view showing a eleventh embodiment; -
FIG. 36 is a perspective view showing a twelfth embodiment; -
FIG. 37 is a schematic view, in plane, showing the air conditioner of a thirteenth embodiment mounted within a vehicle; -
FIG. 38 is a schematic view, in perspective, showing the air conditioner of the thirteenth embodiment mounted within the vehicle; -
FIG. 39 is a front view of the thirteenth embodiment; -
FIG. 40 is a sectional view showing a main portion ofFIG. 39 ; -
FIG. 41 is a disassembled view of the air conditioner of the thirteenth embodiment; -
FIG. 42 is a perspective view showing an evaporator according to the thirteenth embodiment; -
FIG. 43 is a partial perspective view showing a corrugated fin of the thirteenth embodiment; -
FIG. 44A is a perspective view showing a main portion of a comparison sample; -
FIG. 44B is a front view showing a main portion of air blow speed distribution in a comparison sample; -
FIG. 45A is a perspective view showing a main portion of the thirteenth embodiment; and -
FIG. 45B is a front view showing a main portion of air blow speed distribution in the thirteenth embodiment; -
FIG. 46 is a sectional view showing a main portion of a fourteenth embodiment; and. -
FIG. 47 is a sectional view showing a main portion of a fourteenth embodiment. - FIGS. 1 to 5 illustrate an automotive air conditioner according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Referring specifically to
FIGS. 3 and 4 , a vehicle includes an engine compartment A and a passenger compartment B. These compartments A and B are divided by a partition C (generally referred to as a “fire wall” and made from an iron plate). A dashboard P is arranged within the passenger compartment B. The air conditioner comprises afan unit 1 which is offset (to the left wheel the vehicle has a right steering wheel) from the central portion of the dashboard P in the width direction of the vehicle. - The
fan unit 1 has an internal air/externalair selector housing 11 arranged at its top and adapted to allow for selective introduction of internal and external airs. The internal air/externalair selector housing 11 includes anexternal air inlet 12 andinternal air inlets 13. An internal air/external air selector door (not shown) is mounted within the internal air/externalair selector housing 11 so as to selectively open and close theexternal air inlet 12 and theinternal air inlets 13. - As shown in
FIG. 5 , ablower 14 is mounted below the internal air/externalair selector housing 11. Theblower 14 includes a centrifugal multi-blade fan (scirocco fan) 15, afan motor 16, and ascroll casing 17. - The
fan 15 has a vertical rotary shaft. As thefan 15 rotates, an air flows from the internal air/externalair selector housing 11 into thescroll casing 17 through a bellmouth-shaped inlet 18 (seeFIG. 5 ) at the top of thescroll casing 17. The air flows substantially horizontally through thescroll casing 17 and is directed toward an outlet (as is clear fromFIG. 3 , from the left side toward the right side of the passenger compartment B). - An
air conditioning unit 2 is arranged in the central portion of the dashboard P within the passenger compartment B and includes heat exchangers which will later be described. Theair conditioning unit 2 includes an evaporator (cooling heat exchanger) 21 disposed in an approximately horizontal fashion. The air flows from thefan unit 1 and is introduced into the evaporator 21 from lower side. - A heater core (heating heat exchanger) 22 is disposed in an approximately horizontal fashion and located downstream of (above) the
evaporator 21 in the direction in which the air flows. Theheater core 22 utilizes an engine coolant (hot water) as a heat source. Ablow mode selector 23 is located above (downstream of) theheater core 22. - In this embodiment, there is provided a hot water flow control valve 24 (see
FIG. 5 ) for controlling the flow of hot water to theheater core 22 as a temperature control means. Under the control of the hot waterflow control valve 24, theheater core 22 adjusts the amount of heat applied to the air and thus, the temperature of the air fed into the passenger compartment. - The
blow mode selector 23 changes blow modes and includes a center face air outlet 25 (seeFIGS. 1 and 2 ) communicated with a center face (upper) air outlet (not shown) formed on the center of the dashboard, a sideface air outlet 26 communicated with a side face air outlet (not shown) formed on right and left sides of the dashboard, afoot air outlet 27 communicated with a foot (lower) air outlet (not shown) formed at the lower portion of the dashboard, and adefroster air outlet 28 communicated with a defroster air outlet (not shown) formed on the dashboard at the front window side. An air is directed toward the head of a vehicle occupant through the center face air outlet and the side face air outlet, toward the feet of the vehicle occupant through the foot air outlet, and toward the windshield of the vehicle through the defroster air outlet. Theair outlet 25 to 28 are selectively opened and closed by door means (in the form of a plate-like door, a rotary door with an arcuate outer surface, and a film-like door). - The
blow mode selector 23 has a known structure and will not be described herein. In this embodiment, theblow mode selector 23 is cylindrical in shape as shown inFIG. 6 . Arotary door 23 a is rotatably disposed within theblow mode selector 23 and has a cylindrical outer peripheral surface in which openings are defined to allow for the passage of the air. Therotary door 23 a is rotated to open and close theair outlets 25 to 28 to select a desired blow mode such as a face blow mode, a bilevel blow mode, a foot blow mode, a defroster blow mode, foot/defroster mode. - As shown in
FIG. 6 , theevaporator 21 and theheater core 22 are disposed adjacent to the partition C.Hot water pipes 22 a are connected to theheater core 22 to allow hot water to flow into and out of theheater core 22. Similarly,refrigerant pipes 21 a are connected to theevaporator 21 to 10 allow refrigerant to flow into and out of theevaporator 21. Both thehot water pipes 22 a and therefrigerant pipes 21 a are located in the engine compartment A. Thepipes - During mounting of the automotive air conditioner, the
hot water pipes 22 a and therefrigerant pipes 21 a can be coupled within the engine compartment A rather than the passenger compartment B. This arrangement facilitates coupling of the pipes since it is not necessary to use such a 20 small space as the dashboard P. - Referring to
FIG. 6 , the partition C includes pipe holes (not shown) sealed by sealing members (grommet) G made of rubber or similar elastic materials. A temperatureresponsive expansion valve 21 b as a pressure reducing means is disposed between the evaporator 21 and therefrigerant pipes 21 a so as to reduce the pressure of and expand the refrigerant - A condensed water is produced as a result of cooling. In order to facilitate drainage of the condensed water, the
evaporator 21 inclines relative to a horizontal plane as shown inFIG. 2 , theevaporator 21 is so inclined downwardly that the end of theevaporator 21 that is further from theblower 14 is slightly inclined downwardly. The air from theblower 14 is directed to the bottom of theevaporator 21. - Referring to
FIG. 7B , theevaporator 21 includes a plurality of thin plates made of aluminum or similar materials which has a high corrosion resistance and a high thermal conductivity. The thin plates are laminated one above the other to form a multiplicity oftubes 21 f.Corrugated fins 21 g are disposed betweenadjacent tubes 21 f to provide a core 21 h. - The
evaporator 21 includes atank 21 e connected to one end of the core 21 h. Thetank 21 e distributes the refrigerant to thetubes 21 f and collects the refrigerant from thetubes 21 f. The refrigerant flows from thetank 21 e to the other end of the core 21 h and returns to thetank 21 e (as shown by the arrow U inFIG. 7B ). - The
tank 21 e includes arefrigerant inlet 21 i for receiving a refrigerant in two phase, that is, gas and liquid, whose pressure is reduced by theexpansion valve 21 b, and arefrigerant outlet 21 j for discharging a refrigerant in gas phase which is evaporated in the core 21 h. - The
tubes 21 f of theevaporator 21 extend in the direction in which the air flows (from left to right inFIGS. 2 and 5 ). In this way, the air urges the condensed water toward the downwardly inclined end (right end inFIGS. 2 and 5 ) of theevaporator 21 along thetubes 21 f. - A
lower case 29 a (seeFIG. 5 ) is disposed below (upstream of) theevaporator 21 and made of resin. Acondensed drain pipe 21 c is integrally connected to the bottom of thelower case 29 a and corresponds in position to the downwardly inclined end of theevaporator 21. The condensed water is discharged from theevaporator 21 through thisdrain pipe 21 c. -
FIG. 5 is a disassembled view of the air conditioner. Themotor 16 has an output orrotary shaft 16 a connected to thefan 15. Thefan 15 is disposed within thescroll casing 17. Thescroll casing 17 is integrally formed in thelower case 29 a. Themotor 16 has aflange 16 b fixedly secured to thescroll casing 17. - The
lower case 29 a has a mounting surface on which theevaporator 21 is placed. Theevaporator 21 is secured between thelower case 29 a and anintermediate case 29 b made of resin. - The
intermediate case 29 b has anintegral cover 17 a adapted to cover thescroll casing 17 and including a bellmouth-shapedinlet 18. The internal air/externalair selector housing 11 is integrally mounted to the bellmouth-shapedinlet 18. - The
intermediate case 29 b has a mounting surface on which theheater core 22 together with the hot waterflow control valve 24 is placed. Theheater core 22 is secured between theintermediate case 29 b and anupper case 29 c made of resin. - The
blow mode selector 23, the centerface air passage 25, the sideface air passage 26, thefoot air passage 27, thedefroster air passage 28 and therotary door 23 a are all formed in theupper case 29 c. Thecases 29 a to 29 c are detachably secured to the internal air/externalair selector housing 11 by known resilient metal clips, screws or other means. - With the air conditioner thus constructed, the
evaporator 21 is arranged in a substantially horizontal direction and an air is blown from the lower end toward the upper end of theevaporator 21. Since the air flows in a direction opposite to the condensed water dropping direction, there is need for any means for smoothly draining the condensed water from theevaporator 21. - To this end, this embodiment provides various means for facilitating drainage of the condensed water. Firstly, the
evaporator 21 is slightly inclined with respect to a horizontal plane. Referring specifically toFIGS. 2 and 5 , an air is fed from theblower 14 to the bottom of theevaporator 21 and flows (to the right inFIGS. 2 and 5 ) from the rear end to the front end of theevaporator 21. Theevaporator 21 is so inclined downwardly that the end of theevaporator 21 which is further from theblower 14 is slightly inclined downwardly,i.e., theevaporator 21 gradually inclines downward along the direction of the air flow. In order to reduce the amount of condensed water left within theevaporator 21, inventor studied and made a graph showing the relationship between retained amount of condensed water and arrangement angle θ formed from the horizontal plane and the lower end plane 21 n of theevaporator 21 as shown inFIG. 7A . Theevaporator 21 is preferably inclined at an angle θ of 10 to 30 degrees to reduce the retained volume of condensed water as shown inFIG. 7A . - Secondly, the
tubes 21 f of theevaporator 21 extend (to the right inFIG. 5 ) in a direction identical to the direction in which the air flows. By this arrangement, the condensed water is forced toward the downwardly inclined end (right end inFIGS. 2 and 5 ) of theevaporator 21 by the air while it flows on and along thetubes 21 f. The condensed water is drained from theevaporator 21 through the condensedwater drain pipe 21 c. Thedrain pipe 21 c is provided below the downwardly inclined end of theevaporator 21 and integrally molded to the bottom of thelower case 29 a. - The inventor has carefully observed how the condensed sed water is discharged from the air conditioner. As a result of this observation, it has been found that as shown in
FIGS. 8A and 8B , the condensed water is directed toward the downwardly inclined end of theevaporator 21 under gravity and air pressure to form small droplets W. When those droplets coalesce and grow to form a certain size of droplet, then it drops from theevaporator 21. This occurs in an intermittent manner. - With this in mind, the inventor reached an idea to continuously move the condensed water to the
drain pipe 21 c of thecase 29 a before the droplets W reaches a certain size to be dropped. - To this end, a plurality of
vertical guide plates 21 k are located below the downwardly inclined end of theevaporator 21 to which the droplets W are directed as shown inFIGS. 9A, 9B and 9C. Theguide plates 21 k are substantially in contact with (or may be separated a very small distance away from) thetubes 21 f. In this embodiment, theguide plates 21 k are integrally formed in thelower case 29 a. As shown inFIG. 9B , theguide plates 21 k are arranged at predetermined intervals along the width of the downwardly inclined end of theevaporator 21. - The
lower case 29 a has aside wall 29 a′. Theguide plates 21 k are spaced as at 21 m from the side wall 29′ as shown inFIG. 9A . Thedrain pipe 21 c is located below thisspace 21 m. - Operation of the air conditioner thus constructed will now be described. Referring to
FIG. 5 , an air flows from the internal air/externalair selector housing 11 into thescroll casing 17. The, thefan 15 causes the air to flow horizontally through thescroll casing 17. The air is dried and cooled until it reaches the lower part of theevaporator 21. Thereafter, the air flows upward and enters theheater core 22. The air is heated within theheater core 22. - In this embodiment, the hot water
flow control valve 24 is employed as a temperature control means to control the flow of hot water fed to theheater core 22. The hot waterflow control valve 24 is of the type, a so-called adjustable flow reheat type, which adjusts the flow of the hot water to provide an air of a desired temperature. The air is distributed to a desired air outlet through therotary door 23 a of theblow mode selector 23 after it is reheated to a desired temperature within theheater core 22. - This embodiment offers the following advantages.
- (1) The
evaporator 21 and theheater core 22 extend in a substantially horizontal direction and are laminated one above the other. An air is introduced into theevaporator 21 15 from below and then moved upwards. This arrangement eliminates the need for longitudinally extending air ducts and thus, enables a substantial reduction in the size of the air conditioning unit in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. - Also, the vertical space occupied by the heat exchangers is reduced to allow for mounting of the air conditioning unit in the vehicle easily.
- (2) The
heat exchanger pipes - (3) As shown in
FIG. 5 , most of the air conditioner components in the present invention are arranged in a vertical fashion. The components are assembled from the bottom to the top. This manner of assembly enables a reduction in the number of production steps. - (4) The
evaporator 21 is designed to receive an air from below and is inclined downwardly toward the direction along which the air flows. Thetubes 21 f of theevaporator 21 are oriented in a direction identical to the direction in which the air flows. The air causes a condensed water to flow on the surfaces of the tubes. Thus, the condensed water is smoothly directed toward the downwardly inclined end (right end inFIG. 2 ) of theevaporator 21. - Moreover, the
vertical guide plates 21 k are located below and substantially in contact with the downwardly inclined end of theevaporator 21. As shown inFIG. 9C , a condenses water is directed to the downwardly inclined end of theevaporator 21 and then extended between the front end of theevaporator 21 and eachguide plate 21 k. The condensed water is continuously moved down along the surface of eachguide plate 21 k. - Even if the
evaporator 21 is arranged in an approximately horizontal direction and designed to receive the air from below, the condensed water is smoothly moved downward without growing to a large droplet. Thespace 21 m is left between theguide plates 21 k and theside wall 29 a′ of thelower case 29 a. Thedrain pipe 21 c is located below thisspace 21 m to smoothly discharge the condensed water after it is moved down along theguide plates 21 k. Experiments have shown that the condensed water forms a bridge or is extended between theguide plates 21 k and theevaporator 21 and is continuously moved down along the surface of eachguide plate 21 k. - (5) As the condensed water is moved upstream of or below the
evaporator 21, it contacts a relatively high temperature air which has not yet been cooled. Since the temperature of the condensed water increases, there is no substantial decrease in the temperature of the outer surface of thelower case 29 a. This substantially reduces or avoids the occurrence of dewdrops, so that an insulator (thermal insulator) to be installed within the case is eliminated. This enables a further reduction in the production cost. - However, the amount of the condensed water left within the
evaporator 21 varies depending on the angle θ of inclination of theevaporator 21 as shown inFIG. 7A . To reduce the amount of condensed water left within theevaporator 21, it is imperative that theevaporator 21 is inclined at an angle θ of 10 to 30 degrees. - (6) An engine and an air compressor, whether a steering wheel is mounted at the right side or left side of the vehicle, are normally mounted in a fixed position within the engine compartment A. It is desirable to form pipe holes in the partition C in the same position regardless of whether the steering wheel is mounted at the right side or the left side of the vehicle.
- To meet this need, in the embodiment shown in
FIGS. 10A, 10B , 11A and 11B, the offset position of theblower 14 and the position of therefrigerant pipe 21 a of the evaporator 21 (the position of thetank 21 e of the evaporator 21) are laterally reversed. Similarly, the position of thehot water pipe 22 a of the hot waterflow control valve 24 in theheater core 22 is laterally reversed. - Referring to
FIGS. 12A and 12B , theguide plate 21 k has a cross shape to improve drainage of the condensed water. Specifically, thecross-shaped guide plate 21 k has a flange 210 k to stop the flow of the air and prevent upward flow of the air behind the flange 210 k. - By this arrangement, the condensed water can more easily drop behind the flange 210 k for better drainage. As an alternative, the
guide plate 21 k may have a T-shape to facilitate drainage of the condensed water. -
FIG. 13 shows effects of the second embodiment. The vertical axis indicates the flow of air when 12 volts are applied to the fan motor 16 (seeFIG. 5 ). The horizontal axis indicates the angle of inclination of theevaporator 21 with respect to a horizontal plane. - Referring to
FIG. 13 , the solid line shows the case in which thecross-shaped guide plates 21 k of the second embodiment are provided. The broken line shows the case in which nocross-shaped guide plate 21 k is provided. As is shown, thecross-shaped guide plates 21 k promote drainage of the condensate to reduce the amount of the condensed water left within theevaporator 21 and thus, the resistance to flow is also reduced. This results in an increase in the flow of air and thus, in better performance of the air conditioner. - Referring to
FIG. 11 , through experiments, it has been found that theevaporator 21 is preferably inclined at an angle θ of 10 to 30 degrees. - Referring to
FIG. 14 , theguide plates 21 k are flat and inclined with respect to the direction of flow of the air. Theguide plate 21 k has a rear surface 211 k. The upward flow of the air is retarded behind the rear surface 211 k so as to allow the condensed water to easily drop behind the rear surface of eachguide plate 21 k. - Referring to
FIG. 15A , thelower case 29 a has awavy portion 21 k′ at a position below the downwardly inclined end 2.0 of theevaporator 21. Thewavy portion 21 k′ corresponds to theguide plates 21 k and functions to direct the condensed water out of theevaporator 21. - In the foregoing embodiments, the
guide plates 21 k and thewavy portion 21K′ are integral with thelower case 29 a, made of resin, to substantially reduce the production cost. However, thesemembers members evaporator 21 by any suitable means. - Referring to
FIG. 16 , anair mixing door 30 as a temperature control means may be employed in lieu of the adjustable flow reheat type using the hot waterflow control valve 24. Theblow mode selector 23 includes plate-like doors rotary door 23 a. Thedoors horizontal evaporator 21 is designed to receive an air from below and direct the air toward thehorizontal heater core 22. This arrangement offers the same effect as in the previous embodiment. A further advantage of this air mixture method is that the temperature of the air can be controlled in a wide range, from low to high temperatures. - On the other hand, the use of the
air mixing door 30 sightly increases the height of the unit as compared to the previous embodiment. - In the forgoing embodiments, the
evaporator 21 is not limited to the laminated type evaporator. For example, serpentine type evaporator formed from flat tubes having a serpentine shape and corrugated fins is also available to be used. - The sixth embodiment is explained with FIGS. 20 to 23. In the embodiments described in the above, since the
evaporator 21 is disposed to gradually incline downward along the direction of the air flow which flows into the evaporator 21 from the lower surface of theevaporator 21, the cooled air through theevaporator 21 flows obliquely into theheater 22 as shown as an arrow D inFIG. 20 . Consequently, a distribution of the air blow speed (shown as air blow speed distribution E inFIG. 20 ) in the right and left direction in Figure, (i.e., along the width direction of the vehicle) in heheater 22 is dispersed. The air flow speed passing, through theheater 22 increases as the air flow passes the right side of theheater 22 in the figure as shown as the distribution E. Further, the dispersion of the air blow speed distribution causes a dispersion of heat exchange amount in the right and left side of theheater 22, so that the air blow temperature also disperses. Consequently, an air conditioning feeling for the automotive air conditioner differs at right and left side of the compartment because of the dispersion of the air blow speed distribution and the air blow temperature, thereby the occupants feel bad air conditioning feeling. - In the sixth embodiment, a plurality of
air guide plates 31 is so disposed in the air flow passage between the evaporator 21 and theheater 22 as shown inFIG. 21 that the air blow speed distribution in theheater 22 is uniformed. Theair guide plate 31 is disposed perpendicularly to an air introduction surface of theheater 22. A plurality of theair guide plates 31 are arranged at the same intervals (in the figure three guide plates are arranged). Since theair guide plates 31 are formed integrally with a resin case (specifically theintermediate case 29 b) of the air conditioner, the air guide plates can be simply produced in low production cost. Theair guide plates 31 forcedly guide the air from theevaporator 21 to theheater 22 to flow into theheater 22 perpendicularly to the air introduction surface of theheater 22. Thereby, the dispersion of the air blow speed distribution in theheater 22 is so improved that the air blow speed distribution can be uniformed as shown as F inFIG. 21 . -
FIG. 22 shows concrete numerical performance based on the inventor's experiments. The experiment was performed with threeair guide plates 31 and air passages divided into quarters with theguide plates 31 at the side of the air introduction surface of theheater 22. The air blow speed ratio is a ratio between the maximum air blow speed (Vmax) and the minimum air blow speed (vmin). When the width of the heater in right and left direction in the figure is 220 mm and the air blow speed is 480 m3/h, the air blow speed ratio with noguide plates 31 is 0.60 and that withguide plates 31 is improved to 0.85 as shown inFIG. 22 . - In the seventh embodiment, the air blow speed distribution of the air flowing into the
evaporator 21 is uniformed and a drainage of the condensed water generated on theevaporator 21 is secured compatibly as shown inFIGS. 23A and 23B . Since the air from theblower 14 of theblower unit 1 flows upward by perpendicularly converting under theevaporator 21, the air blow speed at the forward side (the right side inFIG. 23B ) of the air flow direction becomes high. - In this embodiment, a concave and
convex surface 32 having step shape is integrally formed to the resin case (specifically, theintermediate case 29 a) under theevaporator 21, thereby uniformity of the air blow speed distribution of theevaporator 21 is achieved. The concave andconvex surface 32 having the step shape is extended perpendicularly to the air flow (defined as G as shown inFIG. 23B ) from theblower 14. - The concave and
convex surface 32 has two ridges at each top of the step shape as shown inFIG. 23B and also has asteep slope 32 a at the upstream side and aneasy slope 32 b at the downstream side. According to the inventor's experiments, a preferable difference in level between the ridge and bottom of the concave andconvex surface 32 is in the range of about 15 to 20 mm to uniform the air blow speed distribution. - As shown in
FIGS. 23A and 23B , when the concave andconvex surface 32 is formed in entire length of the depth direction (the longitudinal direction of the vehicle) of thelower case 29 a, the condensed water H is collected at the bottom of the concave andconvex surface 32. While theblower 14 operates, the drainage from the condensedwater discharge pipe 21 c is performed in some extent by pushing out the condensed water from the bottom of the concave andconvex surface 32 with the air flow produced by theblower 14. However, when theblower 14 stops, the condensed water retained on theevaporator 21 drops and pools at the bottom of the concave andconvex surface 32. This may cause a nasty smell. - Therefore, to achieve both the uniformity of the air blow speed distribution of the air introduced into the
evaporator 21 and the drainage of the condensed water generated in the evaporator,drain channels 33 which is lower than the bottom of the concave andconvex surface 32 are formed at three locations around the concave andconvex surface 32 and are communicated with the condensedwater discharge pipe 21 c. Since thelower case 29 a is also inclined along the downward inclination of theevaporator 21 which is along thedirection 15 of the air flow, thedrain channel 33 is also inclined downward along the direction of the air flow. Thedischarge pipe 21 c is disposed at the lowest level of thedrain channel 33. By adopting the above construction, the condensed water H dropped from theevaporator 21 is led to thedrain channel 33 from the bottom of the concave andconvex surface 32 and is smoothly discharged from thedischarge pipe 21 c. - In
FIG. 24A , thedrain channels 33 are formed at three portions around the concave andconvex surface 32, however, it is possible to parallely form anadditional drain channel 33 at the center of the twoparallel drain channels 33. Further, it is possible to eliminate one of the twoparallel drain channels 33. Still further, thedrain channel 33 is designed to be lower level than the bottom of the concave andconvex surface 32 in the above embodiment, however, the inventor experimented and confirmed that the condensed water can be discharged even if thedrain channel 33 is the same level as the bottom of the concave andconvex surface 32. - In the present invention described above, the
air mixing door 30 is used as temperature adjusting means. In this case, the large vertical dimension of the cooling unit is a demerit. As a modified embodiment, aslide door 100 which is a flat plate and slides right and left direction inFIG. 25 is proposed inFIG. 25 . Thisslide door 100 can reduce the vertical dimension of the cooling unit. The way of driving theslide door 100 is explained hereinafter. Adriving gear 102 engages with aintermediate gear 101. The intermediate gear is connected with theslide door 100. When thedriving gear 102 is driven to rotate, theintermediate gear 101 is rotated and theslide door 100 is moved right and left direction inFIG. 25 . - An eighth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to
FIGS. 26-30 . - Referring to
FIG. 26 , an engine compartment A and a passenger compartment B is partitioned by a partition C (generally referred as a “fire wall” and made from an iron plate). Afan unit 1 of an air conditioner is so located as to be offset from the central portion of the dashboard P in the width direction of the vehicle (e.g., offset to the left wheel the vehicle has a right steering wheel). - As shown in
FIG. 27 , thefan unit 1 has at its upper portion an internal air/externalair selector housing 11 for selectively introducing air inside the passenger compartment and air outside the passenger compartment. The internal air/externalair selector housing 11 is formed with anexternal air inlet 12 for introducing the external air and aninternal air inlet 13 for introducing the internal air. Inside the internal air/externalair selector housing 11, there is provided an internal/external air selector door (not shown) for opening or closing theexternal air inlet 12 and theinternal air inlet 13. - A
blower 14 is provided below the internal air/externalair selector housing 11. Theblower 14 is composed of a centrifugal multiblade fan (scirocco fan) 15, afan driving motor 16, and ascroll casing 17. - A rotary shaft of the
fan 15 is so arranged as to direct in a substantially vertical direction. The air sucked by rotation of thefan 15 from the internal air/externalair selector housing 11 through a bellmouth shaped air inlet 18 (seeFIG. 30 ) formed at an upper portion of thescroll casing 17 is directed toward an outlet of thescroll casing 17 in a substantially horizontal direction (from the left to the right in the passenger compartment B as understood fromFIG. 26 ). - As shown in
FIG. 26 , anair conditioner unit 2 incorporating an air conditioning heat exchanger which will be described later is located at the central portion of the dashboard P in the passenger compartment B in the width direction of the vehicle. In theair conditioning unit 2, an evaporator (cooling heat exchanger) 21 of a refrigeration cycle is located substantially horizontally, and the air directed from thefan unit 1 enters the evaporator 21 from its lower side. - As shown in
FIGS. 27 and 28 , a heater core (heating heat exchanger) 22 is located substantially horizontally on the downstream side of theevaporator 21 with respect to the airflow direction (on the upper side in the passenger compartment). Theheat core 22 utilizes an engine cooling water (hot water) as a heat source. A blow mode selector 23 (seeFIG. 28 ) is located on the upper side of theheat core 22 in the passenger compartment (on the downstream side of the heater core 22). - In this embodiment, there is provided a hot water flow control valve 24 (see
FIG. 40 ) for controlling a hot water flow to theheater core 22 as temperature control means for controlling temperature of conditioned air, so that the hot water flow to theheater core 22 is controlled by the hot waterflow control valve 24 to thereby adjust an amount of heat of air by theheater core 22 and control a temperature of air to be supplied into the passenger compartment. - The
blow mode selector 23 is provided to select a blow mode of air to be supplied into the passenger compartment. The selectingmember 23 includes a centerface air passage 25 communicated with a center face (upper) air outlet (not shown) for discharging air toward the head of a passenger in the passenger compartment, two sideface air passages 26 communicated with two side face air outlets (not shown) for discharging air toward the head of the passenger from the right and left sides thereof, twofoot air passages 27 communicated with two foot (lower) air outlets (not shown) for discharging air toward the feet of the passenger, and adefroster air passage 28 communicated with a defroster air outlet (not shown) for discharging air toward a windshield. Theblow mode selector 23 further includes door means (a plate door, a rotary door having a cylindrical outer peripheral surface, or a film door) for selectively opening or closing theseair passages - The
blow mode selector 23 may have a known structure, and the detailed description thereof will be omitted herein. However, in brief, theblow mode selector 23 has a cylindrical shape extending laterally (in the right-left direction) as shown inFIG. 28 . A rotary door (not shown) is rotatably provided in theblow mode selector 23 and has a cylindrical outer peripheral surface in which openings are defined to allow for the passage of the air. By selecting a rotational position of the rotary door, theair passages FIG. 27 , theblow mode selector 23 is not shown for simplicity of illustration. - The
evaporator 21 is slightly inclined with respect to a horizontal plane, so as to improve the drainage of condensed water generated by the cooling operation. That is, as shown inFIGS. 27 and 28 , theevaporator 21 is inclined downward at its one end (in the right direction inFIG. 28 ) corresponding to the forward end of the flow of air directed to the lower side of theevaporator 21 by theblower 14. - An angle θ of inclination of the
evaporator 21 is set to preferably 10 to 30 degrees to reduce an amount of water retained in theevaporator 21 itself. - The
evaporator 21 is of a known laminated type such that its core portion is formed by laminating a plurality of metal thin plates of aluminum or the like which are superior in heat conductivity and corrosion resistance in a direction perpendicular to the sheet plane ofFIG. 30 to construct a plurality oftubes 21 a, and by interposing a corrugated fin (not shown) between each adjacent pair of the plurality oftubes 21 a. As shown inFIG. 30 , atank portion 21 b for distributing a refrigerant to thetubes 21 a and collecting the refrigerant from thetubes 21 a is provided at one end of theevaporator 21. Further, a thermaltype expansion valve 21 c is provided adjacent to thetank portion 21 b and reduces the pressure of the refrigerant flowing into theevaporator 21 to expand the refrigerant. - The
tubes 21 a of theevaporator 21 extend in the same direction as the flowing direction of the air from the blower 14 (from the left to the right inFIG. 28 ). Accordingly, the condensed water is forced by the air flow to smoothly flow on the surfaces of thetubes 21 a to the lower end of the inclined evaporator 21 (the right end inFIG. 28 ). - The condensed water generated in the
evaporator 21 is discharged from a condensedwater drain pipe 21 d provided below the lower end of theinclined evaporator 21 on the lower side thereof (on the upstream side of the evaporator 21). Thepipe 21 d is integrally formed with a resinlower case 29 a (seeFIG. 30 ) of resin at its lowermost portion. - An
air guide plate 30 is located below theevaporator 21, that is, on the upstream side of theevaporator 21, in such a manner as to extend along the air flow from theblower 14. In this embodiment, theair guide plate 30 is integrally formed with the resinlower case 29 a. As will be described later, theair guide plate 30 serves to uniform an air blow speed distribution of air passing through theevaporator 21 in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. - As shown in
FIG. 28 , anupper surface 30 a of theair guide plate 30 is inclined along the inclined lower surface of theevaporator 21. The inclinedupper surface 30 a of theair guide plate 30 is in contact with the inclined lower surface of theevaporator 21 to thereby support theevaporator 21. The air passage formed below theevaporator 21 is partitioned into two independent passages by theair guide plate 30. -
FIG. 30 shows a structure where the apparatus is assembled in this embodiment. Thefan 15 of theblower 14 is integrally connected to arotary shaft 16 a of themotor 16, and then inserted into thescroll casing 17 formed integrally with the resinlower case 29 a. In this condition, themotor 16 is fixedly mounted at itsflange portion 16 b to thescroll casing 17. - The
evaporator 21 is placed on an mounting surface of thelower case 29 a, and a resinintermediate case 29 b is put on thelower case 29 a so as to sandwich theevaporator 21. Thus, theevaporator 21 is fixed between thelower case 29 a and theintermediate case 29 b. - An
upper cover portion 17 a of thescroll casing 17 is formed integrally with theintermediate case 29 b. Theupper cover portion 17 a has the bellmouth shapedair inlet 18 described above. The internal air/externalair selector housing 11 is located on the bellmouth shapedair inlet 18 and integrally mounted thereto. - The
heater core 22 and the hot waterflow control valve 24 are placed on a mounting surface of theintermediate case 29 b, and a resinupper case 29 c is put on theintermediate case 29 b so as to sandwich theheater core 22 and the hot waterflow control valve 24. Thus, theheater core 22 and the hot waterflow control valve 24 are fixed between theintermediate case 29 b and theupper case 29 c. - The
upper case 29 c is provided with theblow mode selector 23, centerface air passage 25, side faceair passages 26,foot air passages 27, anddefroster air passage 28. Further, the rotary door (not shown) is built in theupper case 29 c. Thecases air selector housing 11 are detachably connected by using metal clips having elasticity or screws. - An operation of the eighth embodiment having the above structure will now be described.
- Referring to
FIGS. 27 and 28 , the air flowing into the internal air/externalair selector housing 11 is directed into thescroll casing 17 by thefan 15, and flows substantially horizontally in thescroll casing 17 to the lower side of theevaporator 21. Then, the air is dehumidified and cooled in theevaporator 21, and flows upward to enter theheater core 22, in which the air is heated. - In this embodiment, the hot water
flow control valve 24 for controlling the amount of hot water to be supplied to theheater core 22 is used as conditioned air temperature control means. That is, a so-called flow control reheat system is adopted to obtain a desired blow air temperature by controlling the amount of hot water in the hot waterflow control valve 24. The conditioned air reheated to a desired temperature in theheater core 22 is distributed to a predetermined air passage selected by the rotary door of theblow mode selector 23 in theupper case 29 c. - With the above configuration of the embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
- (1) Because the
evaporator 21 and theheater core 22 are located substantially horizontally and laminated vertically (one above the other), a vertical space for the heat exchanger can be greatly reduced. As a result, the vertical dimension of the air conditioning unit can be made sufficiently smaller than that of the conventional center-layout unit. Further, since it is unnecessary to provide blowing ducts on the front and rear sides of the heat exchanger, the dimension in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle can also be reduced. Thus, the air conditioning unit can be made greatly compact, and it can be easily installed in the passenger compartment. - (2) Since most of the components of the air conditioning unit have such shapes as to be assembled vertically as shown in
FIG. 30 , the air conditioning unit can be easily assembled by one-directional assembling such that the components are vertically laminated, so that the number of the assembling steps in the mass-production can be reduced. - (3) Since the
evaporator 21 is inclined downward at its one end corresponding to the forward end of the flow of air directed from theblower 14, and thetubes 21 a of theevaporator 21 extend along the air flow (in the left-right direction inFIGS. 27 and 28 ), the condensed water in theevaporator 21 is forced by the air flow to smoothly flow on the surfaces of thetubes 21 a, is collected at the end of the inclined evaporator 21 (the right end inFIGS. 27 and 28 ), and drops. - Then, the condensed water is discharged from the
drain pipe 21 d located below the lower end of theinclined evaporator 21. Thus, the condensed water can be smoothly discharged from theevaporator 21. - (4) Because the condensed water in the
evaporator 21 drops to the upstream side thereof, the condensed water is warmed by the hot air before cooled. Accordingly, the temperature of the outer surface of thelower case 29 a is not so decreased, and as a result, droplet on thelower case 29 a can be greatly reduced or eliminated. In this way, it is unnecessary to provide a heat insulator usually mounted inside a case. - (5) By installing the
air guide plate 30, the air blow speed distribution of air passing through theevaporator 21 in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle can be uniformed. An effect of theair guide plate 30, which is a main feature of the present invention, will now be described. -
FIG. 29 is a cross section taken along the line C-C inFIG. 28 . Referring toFIG. 29 , a windingend portion 17 b of thescroll casing 17 of theblower 14 is connected to a portion of thelower case 29 a below theevaporator 21, and a connecting portion between the windingend portion 17 b and thelower case 29 a extends substantially parallel to the width direction of the vehicle (seeFIG. 26 ). - As shown in
FIG. 26 , theair guide plate 30 is so arranged as to extend substantially parallel to the width direction of the vehicle. A flowing direction D of air directed from the windingend portion 17 b of thescroll casing 17 is coincident with a direction of a tangent to the windingend portion 17 b, and the flowing direction D is headed for a region R on the side of the passenger compartment in thelower case 29 a. - If the
air guide plate 30 is not provided, the air blow speed distribution of air passing through theevaporator 21 in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle may become non-uniform such that the air blow speed in the region R on the side of passenger compartment is higher than that in the region E on the side of the engine compartment. Such a non-uniform air blow speed distribution causes problems in deterioration of the heat exchanging efficiency in theevaporator 21. - The inventors measured the above air blow speed by using an experimental device shown in
FIGS. 31 and 32 on both a comparison sample without having theair guide plate 30 and this embodiment having theair guide plate 30. - The experimental device shown in
FIGS. 31 and 32 is constructed by removing theheater core 22 and the like on the downstream side of theevaporator 21 and placing an air blow speed measuring duct F divided into eight portions. InFIG. 31 , E1 to E4 denote four openings on the side of engine compartment, of the air blow speed measuring duct F, and R1 to R4 denote four opening portions on the side of the passenger compartment. - TABLES 1A and 1B show the results of measurement of the air blow speed by using the above experimental device, in which TABLE 1 shows the result of the comparison sample without having the
air guide plate 30, and TABLE 2 shows the result of this embodiment having theair guide plate 30. In TABLE 1A and 1B, portions 1-4 respectively correspond to the numerals 1-4 given to each opening portion. Theblower 14 is operated by applying voltage of 12 V to the drivingmotor 16.TABLE 1 AIR BLOW SPEED DISTRIBUTION WITHOUT AIR GUIDE PLATE PORTION 1 3 3 4 ENGINE COMP. SIDE (E) 4.9 7.5 8.6 9.1 PASSENGER COMP. SIDE (R) 5.9 7.9 8.9 9.5 ENGINE SIDE AVERAGE SPEED 7.5 PASSENGER COMP. SIDE AVERAGE SPEED 8.1
ENGINE SIDE/PASSENGER COMPARTMENT SIDE = 0.92
-
TABLE 2 AIR BLOW SPEED DISTRIBUTION WITH AIR GUIDE PLATE (ONE PLATE) PORTION 1 3 3 4 ENGINE COMP. SIDE (E) 5.3 7.8 8.8 9.6 PASSENGER COMP. SIDE (R) 5.5 7.6 8.3 9.3 ENGINE SIDE AVERAGE SPEED 7.9 PASSENGER COMP. SIDE AVERAGE SPEED 7.7
ENGINE SIDE/PASSENGER COMPARTMENT SIDE = 0.97
- In the comparison sample without having the
air guide plate 30, the air velocities at opening portions R1 to R4 on the side of the engine compartment are higher than those at opening portions El to E4 on the side of the passenger compartment, for the aforementioned reason. As shown in TABLE 1A, an average air blow speed on the side of the engine compartment is 7.5 m/s, and an average air blow speed on side of the passenger compartment is 8.1 m/s. Accordingly, the ratio between the average air blow speed on the engine compartment side and the average air blow speed on the passenger compartment side becomes 7.5/8.1=0.92. - To the contrary, according to this embodiment having the
air guide plate 30, the flowing direction D of air directed from the windingend portion 17 b of thescroll casing 17 toward the region R on the side of thepassenger compartment 15 can be changed toward the region R on the side of the engine compartment. Accordingly, as shown in TABLE 1B, the average air blow speed on the side of the engine compartment and the average air blow speed on the side of the passenger compartment can approach each other so that the average air blow speed on the side of the engine compartment is increased up to 7.9 m/s and the average air blow speed on the side of the passenger compartment is decreased down to 7.7 m/s. Accordingly, the ratio between the average air blow speed on the side of the passenger compartment and the average air blow speed on the side of the engine compartment becomes 7.7/7.9=0.97. Thus, the difference between the two average air velocities can be reduced to a minute value around an error. - The flowing direction D of air from the winding
end portion 17 b of thescroll casing 17 cannot be changed toward the region E on the side of the engine compartment, because it may cause problems such as a deterioration of the performance of the blower and an increase of the installation space in the passenger compartment. -
FIG. 33 shows a ninth embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, twoair guide plates 30 are provided to partition the air passage below theevaporator 21 into three independent regions (passages) E, M, and R. The other configuration is the same as that of the eighth embodiment. -
FIG. 34 shows a tenth embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a gentlycurved portion 30 a along the air flow from thecentrifugal fan 15 is formed at one end of theair guide plate 30 on the side of thecentrifugal fan 15. By forming thecurved portion 30 a, the air from thecentrifugal fan 15 can be more smoothly guided to the region E on the side of the engine compartment. Accordingly, turbulence or the like of the air flow due to the installation of theair guide plate 30 can be suppressed. - In the eighth to tenth embodiments, the
evaporator 21 is inclined downward at its one end corresponding to the forward end of the air flow below theevaporator 21, so that the air flows obliquely from theevaporator 21 into theheater core 22. As a result, there occur variations in air blow speed distribution in the width direction of the heater core 22 (in the width direction of the vehicle). That is, there occurs an air blow speed distribution such that an air blow speed of air passing through theheater core 22 becomes higher toward the lower end of the inclined evaporator 21 (toward the right side inFIG. 35 ). - Furthermore, the variations in air blow speed cause variations in heat exchanging amount in the left and right portions of the
heater core 22, thus resulting in variations in temperature of the blow air. Accordingly, a feeling of the conditioned air by the air conditioner becomes non-uniform in the left side and the right side in the passenger compartment, because of these variations in air blow speed and temperature of the air, thus causing a deterioration in feeling of conditioned air. - In view of the above problem, in the fourth embodiment, as shown in
FIG. 35 , a plurality ofair distributing plates 31 is provided in an air passage formed between the evaporator 21 and theheater core 22, so as to uniform the air blow speed distribution in the width direction of the vehicle. - More specifically, the
air distributing plates 31 are arranged at intervals so as to be perpendicular to an air receiving surface of theheater core 22, and the intervals of the plural (three in this embodiment)plates 31 are set equal to each other. Theair distributing plates 31 are formed integrally with the resin case of theair conditioning unit 2, more specifically, with theintermediate case 29 b. Accordingly, theair distributing plates 31 can be formed simply at a low cost. - In the eleventh embodiment, the air passed through the
evaporator 21 is forcibly guided by theair distributing plates 31 located just downstream of the outlet of theevaporator 21, and then flows normally to the air receiving surface of theheater core 22. Accordingly, variations in air blow speed distribution in the width direction of theheater core 22 can be greatly reduced to uniform the air blow speed distribution in theheater core 22. - The twelfth embodiment is intended both to uniform an air blow speed distribution of air flowing into the
evaporator 21 in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle by using theair guide plate 30 and to uniform an air blow speed distribution of air flowing into theevaporator 21 in the width direction of the vehicle. - Since the air directed from the
blower 14 of thefan unit 1 flows substantially horizontally below theevaporator 21 and then changes its direction to a substantially vertical direction so as to enter theevaporator 21, the air blow speed at the forward end of the air flow below the evaporator 21 (the right end inFIG. 36 ) becomes higher than that at the other area. - The
air guide plate 30 is formed integrally with the resin case located below theevaporator 21, more specifically, with thelower case 29 a, and a stepped concave andconvex surface 32 is further formed integrally with thelower case 29 a, thereby making uniform the air blow speed distributions in theevaporator 21 both in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle and in the width direction of the vehicle. - The stepped concave and
convex surface 32 extends in a direction (the longitudinal direction of the vehicle) perpendicular to the direction of the air flow from the blower 14 (the width direction inFIG. 36 ). In this embodiment shown inFIG. 36 , the stepped concave andconvex surface 32 is formed as a two-stepped surface having upper surfaces and lower surfaces. According to an experimental result by the inventors, it has become apparent that the height of each step between the adjacent upper and lower surfaces is preferably set to about 15 to 20 mm to uniform the air blow speed distribution. - The
evaporator 21 is not limited to the aforementioned laminated type, but any other types may be adopted. For example, theevaporator 21 may be of a serpentine type in which a multihole flat tube is meanderingly bent and a corrugated fin is combined with the bent tube. - FIGS. 37 to 43 show a thirteenth embodiment of the present invention applied to an air conditioner for an automobile. Referring to
FIG. 37 , an engine compartment A and a passenger compartment B is partitioned by a partition C (generally referred as a “fire wall” and made from an iron plate). Afan unit 1 of an air conditioner is so located as to be offset from the central portion of the dashboard P in the width direction of the vehicle (e.g., offset to the left wheel the vehicle has a right steering wheel). - As shown in
FIG. 38 and 39, thefan unit 1 has at its upper portion an internal air/externalair selector housing 11 for selectively introducing air inside the passenger compartment and air outside the passenger compartment. The internal air/externalair selector housing 11 is formed with anexternal air inlet 12 for introducing the external air and aninternal air inlet 13 for introducing the internal air. Inside the internal air/externalair selector housing 11, there is provided an internal/external air selector door (not shown) for opening or closing theexternal air inlet 12 and theinternal air inlet 13. - As shown in
FIGS. 38 and 39 , thefan unit 1 has at its upper portion an internal air/externalair selector housing 11 for selectively introducing air internal the passenger compartment and air outside the passenger compartment. The internal air/externalair selector housing 11 is formed with anexternal air inlet 12 for introducing the internal air and aninternal air inlet 13 for introducing the external air. - Inside the internal air/external
air selector housing 11, there is provided an internal air/external air selector door (not shown) for opening and closing theexternal air inlet 12 and theinternal air inlet 13. - A
blower 14 is provided below the internal air/externalair selector housing 11. Theblower 14 is composed of a centrifugal multi-blade fan (scirocco fan) 15, afan motor 16, and ascroll casing 17. - A rotary shaft of the
fan 15 is so arranged as to direct in a substantially vertical direction. The air sucked by rotation of thefan 15 from the internal air/externalair selector housing 11 through a bellmouth shaped air inlet 18 (seeFIG. 41 ) formed at an upper portion of thescroll casing 17 is directed toward an outlet of thescroll casing 17 in a substantially horizontal direction (from the left to the right in the passenger compartment B as understood fromFIGS. 37 and 38 ). - As shown in
FIGS. 37 and 38 , anair conditioner unit 2 incorporating an air conditioning heat exchanger which will be described later is located at the central portion of the dashboard P in the passenger compartment B in the width direction of the vehicle. In theair conditioning unit 2, an evaporator (cooling heat exchanger) 21 of a refrigeration cycle is located substantially horizontally. The air directed from thefan unit 1 enters the evaporator 21 from its lower side, and flows upward. - As shown in
FIGS. 38 and 39 , a heater core (heating heat exchanger) 22 is located substantially horizontally on the downstream side of theevaporator 21 with respect to the airflow direction (on the upper side in the passenger compartment). Theheat core 22 utilizes an engine cooling water (hot water) as a heat source. A blow mode selector 23 (see Fig. 39) is located on the upper side of theheat core 22 in the passenger compartment (on the downstream side of the heater core 22). - In this embodiment, there is provided a hot water flow control valve 24 (see
FIG. 40 ) for controlling a hot water flow to theheater core 22 as temperature control means for controlling temperature of conditioned air, so that the hot water flow to theheater core 22 is controlled by the hot waterflow control valve 24 to thereby adjust an amount of heat of air by theheater core 22 and control a temperature of air to be supplied into the passenger compartment. - The
blow mode selector 23 is provided to select a blow mode of air to be supplied into the passenger compartment. Theblow mode selector 23 includes a center face air passage communicated with a center face (upper) air outlet (not shown) for discharging air toward the head of a passenger in the passenger compartment, two sideface air passages 26 communicated with two side face air outlets (not shown) for discharging air toward the head of the passenger from the right and left sides thereof, twofoot air passages 27 communicated with two foot (lower) air outlets (not shown) for discharging air toward the feet of the passenger, and adefroster air passage 28 communicated with a defroster air outlet (not shown) for discharging air toward a windshield. As shown inFIG. 37 , thedefroster air passage 28 is located on the front side of the centerface air passage 25 in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. Theblow mode selector 23 further includes door means (plate door, rotary door having a cylindrical outer peripheral surface, or film door) for selectively opening or closing theseair passages - The
blow mode selector 23 may have a known structure, and the detailed description thereof will be omitted herein. However, in brief, theblow mode selector 23 has a cylindrical shape extending laterally as viewed inFIG. 39 . A rotary door (not shown) is rotatably provided in theblow mode selector 23 and has a cylindrical outer peripheral surface in which openings are defined to allow for the air passages. By selecting a rotational position of the rotary door, theair passages - The
evaporator 21 is provided with a thermaltype expansion valve 21 a (seeFIG. 41 ) as pressure reducing means for reducing the pressure of a refrigerant from a high-pressure refrigerant piping of a refrigeration cycle to thereby expand the refrigerant. Theevaporator 21 is slightly inclined with respect to a horizontal plane, so as to improve the drainage of condensed water generated by the cooling operation. That is, as shown inFIG. 39 , theevaporator 21 is inclined downward at its one end (right end as viewed inFIG. 39 ) corresponding to the forward end of the flow of air directed to the lower side of theevaporator 21 by theblower 14. - An inclination angle θ of the
evaporator 21 is set to preferably 10 to 30 degrees to reduce an amount of water retained in theevaporator 21 itself. - As shown in
FIG. 42 , theevaporator 21 is of a known laminated type such that itscore portion 21 d is formed by laminating a plurality of metal thin plates of aluminum or the like which is superior in heat conductivity and corrosion resistance in a vertical direction inFIG. 42 to construct a plurality oftubes 21 b, and by interposing acorrugated fin 21 c between each pair ofadjacent tubes 21 b. - A
tank portion 21 e is provided at one end of thecore portion 21 d to distribute the refrigerant to thetubes 21 b and collect the refrigerant from thetubes 21 b. There is formed inside eachtube 21 b a U-shaped refrigerant passage (see anarrow 21 f inFIG. 42 ) turned at the other end of thecore portion 21 d. - The
tank portion 21 e is provided with arefrigerant inlet 21 g for introducing the refrigerant of two phases of gas and liquid reduced in pressure by theexpansion valve 21 a and with arefrigerant outlet 21 h for discharging the refrigerant of gas evaporated in thecore portion 21 a. - The
tank portion 21 e is located at the upper end of theinclined evaporator 21, and thetubes 21 b are so located as to extend in the same direction as the blowing direction of air directed from the blower 14 (the direction from the left to the right as viewed inFIGS. 39 and 40 ). Accordingly, the condensed water generated in theevaporator 21 is forced by the air flow from theblower 14 to smoothly flow on the surfaces of thetubes 21 b to the lower end of the inclined evaporator 21 (the right end inFIGS. 39 and 40 ). - The condensed water generated in the
evaporator 21 is discharged from a condensedwater drain pipe 30 provided below the lower end of theinclined evaporator 21 on the upstream side of theevaporator 21. Thedrain pipe 30 is formed integrally with alower case 29 a of resin (seeFIG. 41 ) at its lowermost portion. - As shown in
FIGS. 40 and 43 , thecorrugated fin 21 c has aflat surface 21 i and alouver 21 j for guiding the air flow from theblower 14 obliquely with respect to theflat surface 21 i. Thelouver 21 j is formed integrally with theflat surface 21 i by cutting and bending as by roller forming. Thelouver 21 j serves to cut off a thermal boundary layer in theflat surface 21 i, thereby improving a heat transfer coefficient. In this embodiment, thelouver 21 j is inclined with respect to theflat surface 21 i in adverse directions on the upstream side and the downstream side of theflat surface 21 i. Accordingly, as shown inFIG. 40 , the air flow in theevaporator 21 becomes V-shaped. - The direction of inclination of the
louver 21 j to theflat surface 21 i is so set as to offset non-uniformity of air blow speed distribution of air passed through theevaporator 21 in the width direction of the vehicle, as described later. More specifically, the direction of inclination of at least a downstream portion of thelouver 21 j is set so that the air flow at the downstream portion is directed toward thetank portion 21 e. -
FIG. 41 shows a structure where the apparatus in this embodiment is assembled. Thefan 15 of theblower 14 is integrally connected to arotating shaft 16 a of themotor 16, and next inserted into thescroll casing 17 formed integrally with the resinlower case 29 a. In this condition, themotor 16 is fixedly mounted at itsflange portion 16 b to thescroll casing 17. - The
evaporator 21 is placed on an mounting surface of thelower case 29 a, and a resinintermediate case 29 b is put on thelower case 29 a so as to sandwich theevaporator 21. Thus, theevaporator 21 is fixed between thelower case 29 a and theintermediate case 29 b. - An
upper cover portion 17 a of thescroll casing 17 is formed integrally with theintermediate case 29 b. Theupper cover portion 17 a has the bellmouth shapedair inlet 18. The internal air/externalair selector housing 11 is located on the bellmouth shapedair inlet 18 and integrally mounted thereto. - The
heater core 22 and the hotwater control valve 24 are placed on a mounting surface of theintermediate case 29 b, and a resinupper case 29 c of resin is put on theintermediate case 29 b so as to sandwich theheater core 22 and the hotwater control valve 24. Thus, theheater core 22 and the hotwater control valve 24 are fixed between theintermediate case 29 b and theupper case 29 c. - The
upper case 29 c is provided with theblow mode selector 23, centerface air passage 25, side faceair passages 26,foot air passages 27, anddefroster air passage 28. Further, the rotary door (not shown) is incorporated in theupper case 29 c. Thecases air selector housing 11 are detachably connected by using metal clips having elasticity or screws. - An operation of the thirteenth embodiment having the above structure will now be described.
- Referring to
FIGS. 39 and 40 , the air flowing into the internal air/externalair selector housing 11 is directed into thescroll casing 17 by thefan 15, and flows substantially horizontally in thescroll casing 17 to the lower side of theevaporator 21. Then, the air flow changes its direction to a vertical direction to enter theevaporator 21, and the air is dehumidified and cooled in theevaporator 21. Then the air flows upward to enter theheater core 22, in which the air is heated. - In this embodiment, the hot
water control valve 24 for controlling the amount of hot water to be supplied to theheater core 22 is used as conditioned air temperature, control means. That is, a so-called flow control reheat system is adopted to obtain a desired blowing air temperature by controlling the amount of hot water in the hotwater control valve 24. The conditioned air reheated to a desired temperature in theheater core 22 is distributed to a predetermined air passage selected by the rotary door of theblow mode selector 23 in theupper case 29 c, and is discharged from the predetermined air outlet into the passenger compartment. - With the above configuration of the embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
- (1) Since the
evaporator 21 and theheater core 22 are located substantially horizontally and laminated vertically (one above the other), a vertical space for the heat exchanger can be greatly reduced. As a result, the vertical dimension of the air conditioning unit can be made sufficiently smaller than that of the conventional center-layout unit. Further, since it is unnecessary to provide blowing ducts on the front and rear sides of the heat exchanger, the dimension in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle can also be reduced. Thus, the air conditioning unit can be made greatly compact, and it can be easily installed in the passenger compartment. - (2) Since most of the components of the air conditioning unit have such shapes as to be assembled vertically as shown in
FIG. 41 , the air conditioning unit can be easily assembled by one-directional assembling such that the components are vertically laminated, so that the number of the assembling steps can be reduced. - (3) Since the
evaporator 21 is inclined downward at its one end corresponding to the forward end of the flow of air directed from theblower 14, and thetubes 21 b of theevaporator 21 extend along the air flow (in the width direction inFIGS. 39 and 40 ), the condensed water in theevaporator 21 can be forced by the air flow to smoothly flow on the surfaces of thetubes 21 b and be collected at the end of the inclined evaporator 21 (the right end inFIGS. 39 and 40 ). - Then, the condensed water is discharged from the
drain pipe 30 located below the lower end of theinclined evaporator 21. Thus, the condensed water can be smoothly discharged from theevaporator 21. - (4) Since the condensed water in the
evaporator 21 is dropped to the upstream side thereof, the condensed water dropped is warmed by the hot air before cooled. Accordingly, the temperature of the outer surface of thelower case 29 a is not so reduced, so that droplet on thelower case 29 a can be greatly reduced or eliminated. Accordingly, it is unnecessary to provide a heat insulator usually mounted inside a case. - (5) By setting the direction of inclination of the
louver 21 j of thecorrugated fin 21 c in theevaporator 21, the air blow speed distribution of air passed through theevaporator 21 can be uniformed. An operation of uniformity of the air blow speed distribution by utilizing the inclination of thelouver 21 j, which is the main feature of the present invention, will be described. -
FIGS. 44A and 44B show a comparison sample on which the inventors have experimented for the air blow speed distribution. The air from theblower 14 is directed substantially horizontally so as to reach the lower side of theevaporator 21, and then flows through the evaporator 21 from the lower side to the upper side while its direction is changed from the substantially horizontal direction to the substantially vertical direction. In this way, as accompany with the air flow being bent, a main stream of the air flow is directed toward one end of the evaporator 21 corresponding to the forward end of the air flow (the right side inFIG. 44A ) by the inertia of the air flow. In addition, since theevaporator 21 is inclined downward at this one end, theflat surface 21 i of thecorrugated fin 21 is not vertical, but is inclined toward this one end of theevaporator 21. As a result, it becomes easy for the air having passed through theevaporator 21 to be directed toward the side of this one end of the evaporator 21 (the right side inFIG. 44A ). - In the comparison sample shown in
FIGS. 44A and 44B , the direction of inclination of thelouver 21 j of thecorrugated fin 21 c is set so that the air is directed toward the right side inFIG. 44A . Accordingly, the air having passed through theevaporator 21 is directed along the inclination of thelouver 21 j toward the side of the one end of the evaporator 21 (the right side inFIG. 44A ) as shown by the arrows a inFIG. 44A . - As a result, the air blow speed of air having passed through the
evaporator 21 becomes higher on the side of the one end of theevaporator 21 than on the side of the other end of the evaporator 21 (the side of thetank portion 21 e) as shown by the arrows b inFIG. 44B . Thus, variations in the air blow speed distribution becomes large. - To the contrary, according to the
air conditioning unit 2 in this embodiment, the direction of inclination of thelouver 21 j of thecorrugated fin 21 c is set so that the air is directed toward the left side inFIG. 45A (toward the side of thetank portion 21 e). Accordingly, the air having passed through theevaporator 21 is directed along the inclination of thelouver 21 j toward the side of the other end of the evaporator 21 (the left side inFIG. 45A ) as shown by the arrows c inFIG. 45A . - As a result, although this embodiment adopts such a layout that the air flow is changed in its direction from the substantially horizontal direction to the substantially vertical direction before entering the
evaporator 21 and that theevaporator 21 is inclined downward at its one end corresponding to the forward end of the air flow, the air blow speed of air having passed through theevaporator 21 can be made substantially uniform in the width direction of the vehicle as shown by the arrows d inFIG. 45B . Thus, variations in the air blow speed distribution can be remarkably reduced. -
FIG. 46 shows a fourteenth embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the direction of inclination of thelouver 21 j of thecorrugated fin 21 c is not reversed between on the upstream side of theflat surface 21 i and on the downstream side thereof, but the direction is set to the same direction toward thetank portion 21 e. The other configuration is the same as that of the thirteen embodiment. -
FIG. 47 shows a fifteenth embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, eachlouver 21 j has adjacent portions inclined in adverse directions, so that the air passes through thecorrugated fin 21 c meanderingly. Also in this embodiment, the direction of inclination of thelouver 21 j on the most downstream side is set so that the air is directed toward the side of thetank portion 21 e. Accordingly, the air blow speed distribution of air having passed through theevaporator 21 can be uniformed. - The
evaporator 21 is not limited to the aforementioned laminated type, but any other types may be adopted. For example, theevaporator 21 may be of a serpentine type in which a multihole flat tube is meanderingly bent and a corrugated fin is combined with the bent tube. - Having thus described some specific embodiments of the present invention applied to an air conditioner for an automobile, it is to be noted that the application of the present invention is not limited to an air conditioner for an automobile, but the present invention may be applied to any heat exchanger for air conditioning having a layout such that an air passage is bent across the heat exchanger.
- Although the present invention has been fully described in connection with the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be noted that various changes and modifications are to be understood as being included within the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.
Claims (4)
1. An air conditioner for a vehicle, comprising:
a blower for blowing air;
a cooling heat exchanger located approximately horizontally such that the air blown by the blower flows through the cooling heat exchanger, wherein the cooling heat exchanger is tilted from a horizontal surface to have a tilted lower end portion;
a case for directing the air from said blower to the cooling heat exchanger;
a guide member for guiding condensed water generated on the cooling heat exchanger, the guide member being located below the cooling heat exchanger and approximately in contact with the tilted lower end portion of the cooling heat exchanger; and
an air interruption member for restricting an air flow toward the tilted lower end portion of the cooling heat exchanger.
2. The air conditioner according to claim 1 , wherein:
the guide member includes a plurality of guide plates extending from an inner bottom surface of the case toward the tilted lower end portion of the cooling heat exchanger.
3. The air conditioner according to claim 2 , wherein the guide plates are located substantially parallel with each other.
4. The air conditioner according to claim 1 , wherein the air interruption member is located to cross with a surface of the guide member.
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
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US11/714,286 US20070144724A1 (en) | 1994-09-22 | 2007-03-05 | Automotive air conditioner |
Applications Claiming Priority (18)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
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JP6/227592 | 1994-09-22 | ||
JP22759294 | 1994-09-22 | ||
JP24036294A JP3232913B2 (en) | 1994-10-04 | 1994-10-04 | Automotive air conditioners |
JP6/240362 | 1994-10-04 | ||
JP7/220903 | 1995-08-29 | ||
JP22090395 | 1995-08-29 | ||
JP23550595A JP2970490B2 (en) | 1994-09-22 | 1995-09-13 | Automotive air conditioners |
JP7/235505 | 1995-09-13 | ||
US53138395A | 1995-09-21 | 1995-09-21 | |
JP27014895A JP3518102B2 (en) | 1995-10-18 | 1995-10-18 | Automotive air conditioners |
JP7/270148 | 1995-10-18 | ||
JP28147995A JP3277772B2 (en) | 1995-10-30 | 1995-10-30 | Heat Exchanger for Air Conditioning and Air Conditioner for Automobile |
JP7/281479 | 1995-10-30 | ||
US08/731,792 US5755107A (en) | 1994-09-22 | 1996-10-18 | Automotive air conditioner |
US09/038,902 US6044656A (en) | 1994-09-22 | 1998-03-12 | Automotive air conditioner |
US46079599A | 1999-12-15 | 1999-12-15 | |
US53153100A | 2000-03-21 | 2000-03-21 | |
US11/714,286 US20070144724A1 (en) | 1994-09-22 | 2007-03-05 | Automotive air conditioner |
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US53153100A Division | 1994-09-22 | 2000-03-21 |
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Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
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US08/731,792 Expired - Lifetime US5755107A (en) | 1994-09-22 | 1996-10-18 | Automotive air conditioner |
US09/038,902 Expired - Lifetime US6044656A (en) | 1994-09-22 | 1998-03-12 | Automotive air conditioner |
US09/816,384 Expired - Lifetime US6834709B2 (en) | 1994-09-22 | 2001-03-26 | Automotive air conditioner |
US11/714,294 Abandoned US20070144725A1 (en) | 1994-09-22 | 2007-03-05 | Automotive air conditioner |
US11/714,286 Abandoned US20070144724A1 (en) | 1994-09-22 | 2007-03-05 | Automotive air conditioner |
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US08/731,792 Expired - Lifetime US5755107A (en) | 1994-09-22 | 1996-10-18 | Automotive air conditioner |
US09/038,902 Expired - Lifetime US6044656A (en) | 1994-09-22 | 1998-03-12 | Automotive air conditioner |
US09/816,384 Expired - Lifetime US6834709B2 (en) | 1994-09-22 | 2001-03-26 | Automotive air conditioner |
US11/714,294 Abandoned US20070144725A1 (en) | 1994-09-22 | 2007-03-05 | Automotive air conditioner |
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Cited By (6)
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US20070144725A1 (en) * | 1994-09-22 | 2007-06-28 | Yuichi Shirota | Automotive air conditioner |
US20110005711A1 (en) * | 2009-07-10 | 2011-01-13 | Keihin Corporation | Vehicular air conditioning apparatus |
US8997838B2 (en) * | 2009-07-10 | 2015-04-07 | Keihin Corporation | Vehicular air conditioning apparatus |
US20170106716A1 (en) * | 2014-04-01 | 2017-04-20 | Denso Corporation | Air conditioning device for vehicle |
US20180229578A1 (en) * | 2017-02-15 | 2018-08-16 | Denso Corporation | Air conditioner for vehicle |
US10513162B2 (en) * | 2017-02-15 | 2019-12-24 | Denso Corporation | Air conditioner for vehicle |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
US20070144725A1 (en) | 2007-06-28 |
US6044656A (en) | 2000-04-04 |
US6834709B2 (en) | 2004-12-28 |
US20010017204A1 (en) | 2001-08-30 |
US5755107A (en) | 1998-05-26 |
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