GB2329465A

GB2329465A - Air conditioner for vehicle

Info

Publication number: GB2329465A
Application number: GB9819722A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Osamu Nagata
Original assignee: Denso Corp
Current assignee: Denso Corp
Priority date: 1997-09-19
Filing date: 1998-09-11
Publication date: 1999-03-24
Anticipated expiration: 2018-09-11
Also published as: JPH1191335A; GB2329465A8; JP3820702B2; GB2329465B; GB9819722D0

Abstract

A heater unit (2) is accommodated in a unit case (5), and the unit case (5) is provided with a first air passage (15), a second air passage (16) and a bypass air passage (17). Through the first air passage (15), air blown by a blower (1) flows into a defroster air outlet (10), a center-face air outlet (11) and a first opening portion (12b) of a side-face air outlet (12). Through the second air passage (16), air flows into a foot air outlet (13). Further, through the bypass air passage (17), air flows into a second opening portion (12b) of the side-face air outlet (12) while bypassing the first air passage (15). The first and second air passages (15, 16) are selectively opened/closed by a foot mode door (8). The defroster and center-face air outlets (10, 11) are selectively opened/closed by a defroster/face mode selecting door (9). The first opening portion (12a) is closed when the center-face air outlet (11) is closed, and the second opening portion (12b) is constantly opened. Therefore, air is always blown into a passenger compartment through the second opening portion (12b) of the side-face air outlet (12); thereby preventing side windshields of the vehicle from being fogged.

Description

AIR CONDITIONER FOR VEHICLE The present invention relates to an air conditioner for a vehicle, which has a heater unit integrated with a blower.

In a conventional air conditioner mounted on a low displacement car or the like, a blower integrated with a heater of a heater unit is disposed at a downstream air side of an evaporator. In the conventional air conditioner, the heater is disposed at a downstream air side of a blower, and the heater and the blower are accommodated within a unit case. A temperature of air blown by the blower is controlled by an adjustment of an opening degree of a cool/warm air switching door, and the conditioned air is blown toward a passenger compartment of the vehicle through an air outlet being opened according to a selected air outlet mode.

The air outlet mode includes a defroster mode in which air is blown toward a front windshield of the vehicle through a defroster air outlet, a face mode in which air is blown substantially toward the upper body of a passenger in the passenger compartment through a face air outlet consisting of a center-face air outlet and a side-face air outlet, and a foot mode in which air is blown toward the foot area of the passenger through a foot air outlet. Either of defroster, face and foot modes is selected by a defroster/face mode selecting door and a foot mode door.

The defroster/face mode selecting door selectively opens and closes the defroster air outlet and the face air outlet. During the defroster mode or the foot mode, the defroster/face mode selecting door is rotated to close the face air outlet. During the face mode, the defroster/face mode selecting door is rotated to close the defroster air outlet.

However, in the above-mentioned air conditioner, both the center-face air outlet and the side-face air outlet of the face air outlet are opened and closed by the single defroster/face mode selecting door. Therefore, when the foot mode or the defroster mode is selected so that the defroster/face mode selecting door closes the face air outlet, both the center-face air outlet and the side-face air outlet are closed. As a result, when the foot mode is selected during a heating mode for the passenger compartment, or when the defroster mode is selected to prevent a front windshield of the vehicle from being fogged, warm air is not blown from the sideface air outlet, resulting in that side windshields of the vehicle is fogged.

In view of the foregoing problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an air conditioner for a vehicle, in which a side-face air outlet is constantly opened to prevent side windshields of the vehicle from being fogged.

According to the present invention, an air conditioner for a vehicle includes a first door for selectively opening and closing a first air passage and a second air passage, and a second door which selectively opens and closes a defroster air outlet and a center-face air outlet while at least a part of a side-face air outlet is constantly opened. In the air conditioning apparatus, even when the first door closes the first air passage, air from an upstream air side of the first door partially flows into the side-face air outlet while bypassing the first air passage. Therefore, even when the first door closes the first air passage, air is blown toward side windshields of the vehicle through the constantly-opened portion of the side-face air outlet to prevent the side windshields of the vehicle from being fogged.

Preferably, in the air conditioning apparatus, there is provided with a bypass air passage through which air from an upstream air side of the first door flows into the side-face air outlet while bypassing the first air passage. Therefore, air blown by a blower is partially introduced into the sideface air outlet through the bypass air passage, and is blown toward the side windshields of the vehicle through the constantly-opened portion of the side-face air outlet, regardless of a position of the first door. In this case, when the first door opens the first air passage, air is blown from the side-face air outlet through the first air passage and the bypass air passage.

More preferably, the side-face air outlet has a first opening portion communicating with the first air passage and a second opening portion communicating with the bypass air passage. When the second door closes the center-face air outlet, the first opening portion of the side-face air outlet is closed by the second door, but the second opening portion of the side-face air outlet is opened. Therefore, even when the second door closes the center-face air outlet, air flowing through the bypass air passage is blown into the passenger compartment through the second opening portion of the side-face air outlet. Thus, conditioned air is always blown toward the side windshields of the vehicle through the second opening portion of the side-face air outlet to prevent side windshields of the vehicle from being fogged.

Additional objects and advantages of the present invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment when taken together with the accompanying drawings. In the drawings: FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing a heater unit integrated with a blower according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a side view when viewed from arrow II in FIG.

1, showing a defroster air outlet and a face air outlet according to the embodiment; FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III 111 in FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a divided unit case and a divided inner case according to the embodiment; FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view showing an air passage structure in the inner case according to the embodiment; and FIG. 6 is a chart showing percentage ratio between amounts of air blown from each air outlet in each air outlet mode according to the embodiment.

EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be now described with reference to FIGS. 1-6.

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, an air conditioner is mounted on a vehicle such as a low displacement car. In the embodiment, a blower 1 is disposed at a downstream air side of an evaporator (not shown) in the air conditioner, and is integrated with a heater 6 to form an integrated heater unit 2, as shown in FIG. 1. The blower 1 has a centrifugal fan 3 (FIG. 4) and a motor (not shown) for rotating and driving the fan 3. A rotation speed of the motor (i.e., the amount of air blown by the blower 1) is changed by a register 4. The heater unit 2 has a unit case 5 forming air passages. The unit case 5 accommodates the fan 3, the heater 6, an air mixing door 7 and mode selecting doors 8, 9.

The unit case 5 is divided into a left case portion 5A and a right case portion 5B shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 3. The left and right case portions 5A, 5B are connected to each other at several points to form the unit case 5.

As shown in FIG. 1, the unit case 5 has an air inlet (not shown) through which air is introduced into the blower 1, and several air outlets through which air blown by the blower 1 is introduced into a passenger compartment of the vehicle.

The evaporator is accommodated in a cooler case (not shown), and the air inlet of the heater unit 2 is connected to an opening portion of the cooler case so that air having passed through the evaporator is introduced into the blower 1 through the air inlet.

The air outlets formed on the unit case 5 include a defroster air outlet 10 through which air is blown toward a front windshield of the vehicle, a center-face air outlet 11 through which air is blown toward the upper body of a passenger in the passenger compartment, a side-face air outlet 12 through which air is blown toward side windshields of the vehicle and a foot air outlet 13 through which air is blown toward the foot area of the passenger in the passenger compartment. In the embodiment, the defroster air outlet 10, the center-face air outlet 11 and the side-face air outlet 12 are collectively disposed at the upper part of the unit case 5. The side-face air outlet 12 is disposed on both sides of the center-face air outlet 11 as shown in FIG. 2. The foot air outlet 13 is disposed at the lower part of the unit case 5, being away from the defroster, center-face and side-face air outlets 10-12, as shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, the air passage within the unit case 5 has a main air passage 14, a first air passage 15, a second air passage 16, and a bypass air passage 17. The main air passage 14 is formed around the blower 1 in a spiral shape to introduce air blown by the blower 1 into the first, second and bypass air passages 15, 16, 17. Through the first air passage 15, air from the main air passage 14 can be blown into the defroster air outlet 10, the center-face air outlet 11 and the side-face air outlet 12. Through the second air passage 16, air from the main air passage 14 can be blown into the foot air outlet 13. Air from the main air passage 14 partially flows into the side-face air outlet 12 through the bypass air passage 17 while bypassing the first air passage 15. As shown in FIG. 3, the bypass air passages 17 are formed on both sides of an inner case 18 disposed inside the unit case 5. Similarly to the unit case 5, the inner case 18 is also divided into a left inner case portion 18A and a right inner case portion 18B shown in FIG. 4. The inner case 18 is inserted into the air passage within the unit case 5. As shown in FIG. 5, the inner case 18 has an air inlet 18a opened in the main air passage 14 of the unit case 5, and an interior of the inner case 18 at a downstream air side of the air inlet 18a branches into two portions; one portion corresponds to the first air passage 15, and the other portion corresponds to the second air passage 16.

That is, the first and second air passages 15, 16 are formed inside the inner case 18, in the embodiment.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the side-face air outlet 12 is opened in both the first air passage 15 formed inside the inner case 18 and in the bypass air passage 17 formed on both sides of the inner case 18. Hereinafter, an opening portion of the side-face air outlet 12 opened in the first air passage 15 is referred to as a first opening portion 12a, and an opening portion of the side-face air outlet 12 opened in the bypass air passage 17 is referred to as a second opening portion 12b.

The heater 6 is disposed in the main air passage 14, and is connected to an engine-cooling water cycle (not shown) through a hot water pipe 19. The heater 6 heats air passing therethrough by heat-exchange between hot water (i.e., engine cooling water) flowing through the heater 6 and air passing through the heater 6.

By adjusting an opening degree of an air mixing door 7, a ratio between an amount of air passing through the heater 6 and an amount of air bypassing the heater 6 is controlled. The air mixing door 7 rotates around a rotary shaft 7A fixed to the unit case 5, between a position indicated by a broken line in FIG. 1, where a core surface on the upstream air side of the heater 6 is closed, and a position indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 1, where a bypass air passage of the heater 6 is closed.

The mode selecting doors 8, 9 for selecting an air outlet mode are a foot mode door 8 disposed at a downstream side of the main air passage 14 and a defroster/face mode selecting door 9 (hereinafter referred to as D/F mode selecting door 9) disposed at a downstream air side of the first air passage 15. The foot mode door 8 has two door portions 8a, 8b and is secured to a rotation shaft 8A in such a manner that the door portions 8a, 8b have an angle relative to the rotation shaft 8A. The foot mode door 8 rotates freely around the rotation shaft 8A, between a position indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 1, where the first air passage 15 is closed by the door portion 8a, and a position indicated by a broken line in FIG. 1, where the second air passage 16 is closed by the door portion 8b.

The D/F mode selecting door 9 rotates freely around a rotation shaft 9A fixed to the unit case 5, between a position indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 1, where the centerface air outlet 11 and the first opening portion 12a of the side-face air outlet 12 are closed, and a position indicated by a broken line in FIG. 1, where the defroster air outlet 10 is closed. In FIG. 2, the center-face air outlet 11 and the first opening portion 12a of the side-face air outlet 12 are closed by the D/F mode selecting door 9. The foot mode door 8 and the D/F mode selecting door 9 can be linked with each other through a linkage mechanism (not shown).

The air outlet modes includes a face mode, a bi-level (B/L) mode, a foot mode, a foot/defroster (F/D) mode and a defroster mode. During the face mode, the foot mode door 8 opens the first air passage 15 to close the second air passage 16, and the D/F mode selecting door 9 closes the defroster air outlet 10. During the bi-level mode, the foot mode door 8 opens both the first and second air passages 15, 16 with approximately half opening degrees, and the D/F mode selecting door 9 closes the defroster air outlet 10. During the foot mode, the foot mode door 8 closes the first air passage 15 to fully open the second air passage 16, and the D/F mode selecting door 9 closes the center-face air outlet 11 and the first opening portion 12a of the side-face air outlet 12.

During the foot/defroster mode, the foot mode door 8 opens both the first and second air passages 15, 16 with approximately half opening degrees, and the D/F mode selecting door 9 closes the center-face air outlet 11 and the first opening portion 12a of the side-face air outlet 12. During the defroster mode, the foot mode door 8 opens the first air passage 15 to close the second air passage 16, and the D/F mode selecting door 9 closes the center-face air outlet 11 and the first opening portion 12a of the side-face air outlet 12.

When the foot mode door 8 closes the first air passage 15 during the foot mode, an opening (not shown) is provided between the door portion 8a and the wall of the inner case 18, so that air blown by the blower 1 partially flows into the first air passage 15. Therefore, even when the foot mode door 8 closes the first air passage 15 during the foot mode, air partially flows into the first air passage 15 while bypassing the door portion 8a, and is introduced to the defroster air outlet 10. Note that air flowing through the opening between the inner case 18 and the door portion 8a is different from air flowing through the bypass air passage 17.

Next, an operation of the heater unit 2 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be now described.

Air passing through the evaporator is introduced into the heater unit 2 through the air inlet by an operation of the blower 1. A rotation position of the air mixing door 7 is adjusted so that a ratio between an amount of air flowing through the heater 6 and an amount of air bypassing the heater 6 is adjusted to control a temperature of air to be blown into the passenger compartment. During the maximum cooling mode of the air conditioner, the air mixing door 7 fully closes the core surface on the upstream air side of the heater 6; therefore, all air blown by the blower 1 bypasses the heater 6.

On the other hand, during the maximum heating mode, the air mixing door 7 fully closes a cool-air bypass passage to fully open the core surface of the heater 6; and therefore, all air blown by the blower 1 flows through the heater 6 to be heated.

The conditioned air is blown into the passenger compartment through the air outlet being opened according to a selected air outlet mode.

When the face mode is selected, the foot mode door 8 opens the first air passage 15 to close the foot air outlet 13, and the D/F mode selecting door 9 closes the defroster air outlet 10. Therefore, most of air blown by the blower 1 flows through the first air passage 15, and is blown into the passenger compartment through the center-face air outlet 11 and the first opening portion 12a of the side-face air outlet 12.

The rest of air blown by the blower 1 flows through the bypass air passage 17 and is blown into the passenger compartment through the second opening portion 12b of the side-face air outlet 12.

When the foot mode is selected, the foot mode door 8 closes the first air passage 15 to open the second air passage 16, and the D/F mode selecting door 9 closes the center-face air outlet 11 and the first opening portion 12a of the sideface air outlet 12. Therefore, substantially half of air blown by the blower 1 flows through the second air passage 16 and is blown into the passenger compartment through the foot air outlet 13. The other half of air blown by the blower 1 substantially flows through the bypass air passage 17 and is blown into the passenger compartment through the second opening portion 12b of the side-face air outlet 12. A part of the other half of air flows into the first air passage 15 through the opening between the door portion 8a and the inner case 18, and is blown into the passenger compartment through the defroster air outlet 10.

When the defroster mode is selected, the foot mode door 8 opens the first air passage 15 to close the second air passage 16, and the D/F mode selecting door 9 closes the center-face air outlet 11 and the first opening portion 12a of the side-face air outlet 12. Therefore, most of air blown by the blower 1 flows through the first air passage 15 and is blown into the passenger compartment through the defroster air outlet 10. The rest of air blown by the blower 1 flows through the bypass air passage 17 and is blown into the passenger compartment through the second opening portion 12b of the sideface air outlet 12.

Thus, as shown in FIG. 6, in all air outlet modes, air is blown into the passenger compartment through the second opening portion 12b of the side-face air outlet 12.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the heater unit 2 has the bypass air passage 17 through which air passing through the main air passage 14 is directly into the side-face air outlet 12 while bypasses the first air passage 15. The second opening portion 12b of the side-face air outlet 12 opened in the bypass air passage 17 is always opened, even when the D/F mode selecting door 9 closes the center-face air outlet 11. Therefore, air is blown into the passenger compartment through the second opening portion 12b of the side-face air outlet 12 during each of air outlet modes.

Thus, even when the foot mode is selected during a heating mode, or the defroster mode is selected to prevent the front windshield of the vehicle from being fogged, warm air is blown toward the side windshields of the vehicle through the second opening portion 12b of the side-face air outlet 12; thereby preventing the side windshields from being fogged.

Further, the side-face air outlet 12 has the first opening portion 12b communicating with the first air passage 15 and the second opening portion 12a communicating with the bypass air passage 17, and only the first opening portion 12a is opened and closed by the D/F mode selecting door 9. That is, the second opening portion 12b of the side-face air outlet 12 is constantly opened. Therefore, even when the D/F mode selecting door 9 closes both the center-face air outlet 11 and the first opening portion 12a of the side-face air outlet 12, for example, air flowing through the bypass air passage 17 is blown into the passenger compartment through the second opening portion 12b of the side-face air outlet 12.

On the other hand, when the D/F mode selecting door 9 opens both the center-face air outlet 11 and the first opening portion 12a of the side-face air outlet 12, air flowing through the first air passage 15 is blown into the passenger compartment through the first opening portion 12a, and air flowing through the bypass air passage 17 is blown into the passenger compartment through the second opening portion 12b.

Therefore, an amount of air blown into the passenger compartment through the side-face air outlet 12 changes depending on whether the D/F mode selecting door 9 opens or closes the center-face air outlet 11. As shown in FIG. 6, when the D/F mode selecting door 9 opens the center-face air outlet 11, a larger amount of air is blown into the passenger compartment through the side-face air outlet 12, in comparison with when the D/F mode selecting door 9 closes the center-face air outlet 11. That is, when the D/F mode selecting door 9 opens the center-face air outlet 11, the first opening portion 12a and the second opening portion 12b of the side face air outlet 12 are opened. When the D/F mode selecting door 9 closes the center face air outlet 11, only the second opening portion 12b of the side-face air outlet 12 is opened.

An opening area of the second opening portion 12b of the side-face air outlet 12 may be arbitrarily determined according to a target ratio of each amount of air blown from each air outlet during each air outlet mode. Further, if an amount of air blown into the passenger compartment through the center-face air outlet 11 is extremely different form an amount of air blown into the passenger compartment through the sideface air outlet 12 when the face mode is selected, the passenger may feel uncomfortable. Therefore, preferably, each opening area of the center-face air outlet 11 and the side-face air outlet 12 is determined so that the amount of air blown out from the center-face air outlet 11 and the amount of air blown out from the side-face air outlet 12 are substantially equal.

Although the present invention has been fully described in connection with the preferred embodiment thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be noted that various changes and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the inner case 18 is disposed inside the unit case 5 so that the bypass air passage 17 for introducing air into the second opening portion 12b of the side-face air outlet 12 is provided on both sides of the first air passage 15. However, the bypass air passage 17 may not be provided on both sides of the first air passage 15. For example, the side-face air outlet 12 may be opened partially (or fully) when the D/F mode selecting door 9 closes the center-face air outlet 11. In this case, air may flow through the gap between the door portion 8a of the foot mode door 8 and the wall of the unit case 5, and may be blown into the passenger compartment through the second opening portion 12b of the side-face air outlet 12.

Such changes and modifications are to be understood as being within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. An air conditioner for a vehicle having a passenger compartment, said air conditioner comprising: a blower for blowing air toward the passenger compartment; a heater for heating air passing therethrough, said heater being integrated with said blower; a unit case for forming an air passage including a first air passage and a second air passage, and for accommodating said blower and said heater integrated with each other, said unit case having a defroster air outlet through which air is blown toward a front windshield of the vehicle, a center-face air outlet through which air is blown toward an upper side of the passenger compartment, a side-face air outlet through which air is blown toward side windshields of the vehicle, and a foot air outlet through which air is blown toward a lower side of the passenger compartment; a first door which selectively opens and closes said first and second air passages; and a second door which selectively opens and closes said defroster air outlet and said center-face air outlet, and constantly opens at least a part of said side-face air outlet, wherein: air blown by said blower flows into said defroster air outlet, said center-face air outlet and said side-face air outlet through said first air passage; air blown by said blower flows into said foot air outlet through said second air passage; and air from an upstream air side of said first door flows into at least said side-face air outlet while bypassing said first air passage, when said first door closes said first air passage.

2. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein said air passage of said case further includes a bypass air passage through which air at an upstream air side of said first door flows into said side-face air outlet while bypassing said first air passage.

3. The air conditioner according to claim 2, further comprising: an inner case disposed inside said unit case, wherein said bypass air passage is formed between said inner case and said unit case.

4. The air conditioner according to claim 3, wherein said first air passage and said second air passage are formed inside said inner case.

5. The air conditioner according to any one of claims 2 4, wherein: said side-face air outlet has a first opening portion communicating with said first air passage, and a second opening portion communicating with said bypass air passage; and said second door closes said first opening portion and opens said second opening portion, when said center-face air outlet is closed by said second door.

6. The air conditioner according to claim 5, wherein said second door is disposed within said unit case in such a manner that said second opening portion of said side-face air outlet is constantly opened.

7. The air conditioner according to claim 3, wherein: said first door and said inner case are disposed within said unit case to form an opening between said first door and said inner case when said first door closes said first air passage; and air from an upstream air side of said first door flows into said defroster air outlet through said opening during a foot mode where said first door opens said second air passage and closes said first air passage.

8. The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1-7, wherein said first door and said second door are operatively linked through a link mechanism.

9. An air conditioner for a vehicle, the air conditioner being substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.

10. A vehicle including an air conditioner as claimed in any preceding claim.