JP2003039930A - Air conditioner for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air conditioner for vehicle which can freely adjust the temperature of air supplied from a foot opening part 11 while maintaining the constant temperature of air supplied from a face opening part 10, and obtaining the temperature difference from the temperature of the air supplied from the face opening part 10. SOLUTION: The foot opening part 11 is provided in both side surfaces of an air-conditioning case 2 in the right-and-left direction of a vehicle, and from a hot air passage part immediately behind the air flow from a heater core 8 to a cold air passage part immediately behind the air flow from an air mix door 8, a foot slide door 14 for opening/closing the foot opening part 11 is provided, an air intake 14a for bi-level is provided in the foot slide door 14, and the position of the air intake 14a for bi-level is adjusted between the hot air passage part and the cold air passage part. The temperature of the air supplied from the foot opening part 11 can be freely adjusted while the constant temperature of the air supplied from the face opening part 10 is maintained, and the temperature difference from the temperature of the air supplied from the face opening part 10 can be freely obtained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle air conditioner having a so-called upper / lower independent temperature control function capable of adjusting the temperature difference between the temperature of air blown from a face opening and the temperature of air blown from a foot opening.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of a conventional vehicle air conditioner having an upper and lower independent temperature control function. As shown in the figure, conventionally, a cold air bypass passage 16 is provided, and the opening of the cold air bypass door 17 adjusts the amount of cool air flowing from the cold air bypass passage 16 to the face opening portion 10 to adjust the temperature of blown air and the face opening. Part 10
From the face opening 10 and a vent mode in which cold air is blown out from the face opening 10 only. The mode of can be set.

[0003]

FIG. 6 is a graph showing changes in the blowout temperature due to opening and closing of the conventional cold air bypass passage 16. As shown in the graph, in the conventional structure in which the cold air bypass passage 16 is provided, the face temperature is adjusted by adjusting the cold air bypass door 17 while keeping the foot temperature constant.

However, there is a need to adjust the foot temperature while keeping the face temperature constant depending on usability. By the way, if it is attempted to achieve this in a conventional cold air bypass type vehicle air conditioner, the cool air bypass door 17 is adjusted so that the face temperature becomes constant while adjusting the air mix door 9 so that the foot temperature becomes a desired temperature. The operation of adjusting is required.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and the temperature of the air blown from the face opening is kept constant while the temperature of the air blown from the foot opening (the temperature difference from the face opening). It is an object of the present invention to provide an air conditioning system for a vehicle, which is capable of freely adjusting

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, in the invention according to claim 1, the foot opening (11) for guiding the air-conditioning air to the foot side of the occupant is provided in the vehicle of the air-conditioning case (2). The foot openings (11) are provided on both side surfaces in the left-right direction and from the portion where the warm air passes immediately after the air flow of the heater core (8) to the portion where the cold air passes immediately after the air flow of the air mix door (9). A foot slide door (14) that opens and closes is provided, a bi-level air outlet (14a) is provided in the foot slide door (14), and hot air passes through the position of the bi-level air outlet (14a). It is characterized in that the temperature of the air for air conditioning blown out from the foot opening (11) is adjusted by adjusting the temperature from the part to the part through which the cool air passes.

As a result, the temperature of the air blown from the face opening (10) is kept constant while the foot opening (1
The temperature of air blown from 1) can be adjusted freely, and the temperature difference from the temperature of air blown from the face opening (10) can be obtained freely.

The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that a disk rotary slide door is used as the foot slide door (14). With this structure, the rotary shaft (14b) is driven to determine the rotational position of the disk slide door (14) with the same simple structure as that of the conventional plate door. Air outlet (14
The position adjustment of a) can be easily performed. Incidentally, the reference numerals in parentheses of the above means are examples showing the correspondence with the specific means described in the embodiments described later.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of a vehicle air conditioner 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the present invention is applied to a vehicle air conditioner 1 for a vehicle equipped with a water-cooled engine.

The ventilation system of the vehicle air conditioner 1 of this embodiment is roughly divided into two parts, a blower unit and an air conditioning unit. The blower unit is arranged offset from the central part to the passenger seat side in the lower part of the instrument panel in the passenger compartment, while the air conditioning unit is arranged in the lower part of the instrument panel in the passenger compartment in the lateral direction of the vehicle. It is located in the center. In FIG. 1, for convenience, the air blower unit is shown in front of the air conditioning unit.

The air upstream portion of the air-conditioning case 2 forming the air passage serves as a blower unit, and an inside air intake port 3 for sucking air in the vehicle interior and an outside air intake port 4 for sucking air outside the vehicle interior are formed. And these intake ports 3,
An inside / outside air switching door 5 that selectively opens and closes 4 is provided. The inside / outside air switching door 5 is opened / closed by a driving unit such as a servo motor (not shown).

A blower 6 is disposed at a downstream side of the inside / outside air switching section, and the air sucked by the blower 6 from either of the inlets 3 and 4 is blown out by each outlet 10 which will be described later. , 11 and 12 are blown.

The air downstream portion of the blower 6 is an air conditioning unit, and in one air conditioning case 2, an evaporator 7 serving as an air cooling means and a heater core 8 serving as an air heating means.
Are integrally built in and arranged, and the air conditioning case 2 is made of a molded product of resin, such as polypropylene, which has a certain degree of elasticity and is excellent in strength.

The air-conditioning case 2 is specifically composed of a plurality of divided cases. The plurality of divided cases accommodates the above-mentioned evaporator 7, heater core 8, devices such as a door described later, and then metal spring clips, screws and the like. The air-conditioning unit is configured by being integrally connected by the fastening means.

An evaporator 7 is arranged in the air conditioning case 2 just behind the blower 6. The evaporator 7 has a thin shape in the vehicle front-rear direction and is vertically arranged so as to cross the passage in the air conditioning case 2. Therefore, the air blown from the blower 6 flows into the front surface of the evaporator 7 extending in the vehicle vertical direction, and all the air blown by the blower 6 passes through the evaporator 7. As is well known, the evaporator 7 absorbs latent heat of vaporization of the refrigerant in the refrigeration cycle from the conditioned air to cool the conditioned air.

A heater core 8 is arranged downstream of the evaporator 7 (on the rear side of the vehicle) at a predetermined interval. The heater core 8 is arranged on the rear side of the vehicle on the lower side in the air conditioning case 2. The heater core 8 reheats the cold air that has passed through the evaporator 7, hot hot water (engine cooling water) flows therein, and heats the air using the hot water as a heat source.

In the air passage in the air conditioning case 2, a cool air passage is formed above the heater core 8 to bypass the heater core 8 and allow cool air to flow. In addition, a flat air mix door 9 is provided between the heater core 8 and the evaporator 7 to adjust the air flow rate ratio between the hot air heated by the heater core 8 and the cold air that bypasses the heater core 8 through the cold air passage. Are arranged.

The air mix door 9 is integrally connected to a rotating shaft arranged in the horizontal direction, and is rotatable in the vehicle vertical direction together with the rotating shaft. The air mix door 9 serves as temperature adjusting means for adjusting the temperature of the air blown into the vehicle compartment by adjusting the air flow rate.

The rotating shaft of the air mix door 9 is rotatably supported by the air conditioning case 2, and one end of the rotating shaft projects to the outside of the air conditioning case 2, and a servo motor or the like is connected via a link mechanism (not shown). It is connected to the used actuator mechanism or manual operation mechanism, and the rotational position of the air mix door 9 is adjusted by this actuator mechanism or manual operation mechanism.

In the air conditioning case 2, on the air downstream side of the heater core 8 (the portion on the vehicle rear side), a wall surface extending vertically is formed integrally with the air conditioning case 2 with a predetermined gap between the heater core 8 and the heater core 8. ing. This wall surface forms a hot air passage extending from immediately after the heater core 8 to the upper side. In the air conditioning case 2, an air mixing unit that mixes cold air and warm air is formed on the air downstream side (upper side) of the cold air passage and the hot air passage.

A defroster opening 12 is opened on the front side of the vehicle and a face opening 10 is opened on the rear side of the vehicle in the upper surface of the air conditioning case 2 above the cold air passage and the air mixing section. Since the foot opening 11 is an essential part of the present invention, details will be described later.

The defroster opening 12 is for the conditioned air whose temperature is controlled in the air mixing section to flow in, and the defroster duct connecting portion is formed substantially horizontally on the upper surface of the air conditioning case 2 and on the front side of the vehicle. Then, from there, it is connected to a defroster outlet through a defroster duct (not shown), and the wind is blown from this defroster outlet toward the inner surface of the vehicle front window glass.

The defroster opening 12 is opened and closed by a flat plate-shaped defroster door 15 arranged in this opening. The defroster door 15 is arranged on the air upstream side of the defroster opening 12, and is rotatably supported by a rotation shaft arranged in the horizontal direction in the approximate center near the upper surface of the air conditioning case 2.

A face opening 10 is provided on the upper surface of the air conditioning case 2 at a position rearward of the vehicle (closer to the occupant) than the defroster opening 12 and the face opening 10 is provided through a face duct (not shown). , Is connected to a face opening arranged on the upper side of the instrument panel, and blows the air toward the passenger's head from the air outlet.

The face opening 10 is opened and closed by a flat face door 13 arranged in this opening. The face door 13 is arranged on the upstream side of the face opening 10 in the air direction, and is rotatably supported by a rotary shaft arranged horizontally in the vicinity of the rear end of the vehicle on the upper surface of the air conditioning case 2.

Defroster door 15 and face door 13
Is a door means for switching the blowing mode, and is connected to an actuator mechanism for switching the blowing mode or a manual operating mechanism, such as a servomotor, via a link mechanism (not shown), and by this actuator mechanism or the manual operating mechanism. It is designed to be linked.

Next, the foot opening 1 which is an essential part of the present invention
1 and the foot slide door 14 for opening and closing the foot opening 11 will be described. The foot openings 11 are located on both sides of the air conditioning case 2 in the vehicle left-right direction on the sides of the air mixing portion, and from the warm air passage portion immediately after the air flow of the heater core 8 to the cold air passage immediately after the air flow of the air mix door 9. It is provided up to the part.

A semi-circular disk-rotating foot slide door 14 is provided as a door for opening and closing the foot opening 11. FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. Since the foot slide doors 14 are arranged on the air upstream side of the foot openings 11 provided on both side surfaces of the air conditioning case 2, they are arranged on the left and right inside the air conditioning case 2.
The rotary shaft 14b arranged in the horizontal direction is integrally formed.

Further, the rotary shaft 14b is horizontally disposed substantially in the center of the air conditioning case 2 and is rotatably supported, and one end of the rotary shaft 14b projects outside the air conditioning case 2.
It is connected to an actuator mechanism such as a servo motor or a manual operation mechanism (not shown), and is rotated by the actuator mechanism or the manual operation mechanism.

Further, the foot slide door 14 is provided with a bi-level air outlet 14a, and the foot slide door 1 including the bi-level air outlet 14a.
The operation of No. 4 will be described later. Then, the air from the foot opening 11 is blown out through the foot duct (not shown) and the foot opening to the feet of the occupants in the front seats and the rear seats.

Next, the operation of this embodiment having the above-mentioned structure will be described. To adjust the temperature of the air blown into the vehicle interior, cool air that is cooled by the evaporator 7 and flows directly to the cold air passage side,
The air volume ratio to the warm air heated by the heater core 8 is adjusted by the air mix door 9. Then, after the cold air and the warm air are mixed in the air mixing unit, the opening degrees of the defroster door 15 and the face door 13 are adjusted according to the blowing mode, and the air is blown to a predetermined portion in the vehicle compartment.

Further, in addition to the adjustment of the temperature of the blown air at the air mix door 9, the blown air from the foot opening 11 is heated at the position of the bi-level air outlet 14a provided on the foot slide door 14. The temperature can be adjusted by adjusting between the passage portion and the cold air passage portion.

FIG. 3 is a view showing the positional relationship between the foot opening 11 and the foot slide door 14. (A) shows the state in the bi-level mode in which the head cold foot heat is applied, and the conditioned air is taken out from the bi-level air outlet 14a provided in the foot slide door 14 to the foot opening 11 (dotted line portion).

Therefore, if the position of the bi-level air outlet 14a is adjusted to a portion through which warm air passes immediately after the air flow of the heater core 8 in the direction A in the figure, a high temperature conditioned air can be obtained, and a direction B in the figure can be obtained. Immediately after the air flow of the air mix door 9 is adjusted to a portion through which cool air passes, low temperature conditioned air can be obtained.

FIG. 4 shows the bilevel air outlet 1 described above.
It is a graph which shows the change of blowing temperature by changing the opening position of 4a. (A) shows 6 air mix doors
By opening so as to pass through the 0% heater core 8 and adjusting the blowout temperature from the face opening 10 to 30 degrees, and changing the opening position of the bi-level air outlet 14a, the blowout temperature from the foot opening 11 becomes 40 ° C. The temperature can be adjusted in a range of ˜50 degrees, and for example, if the angle is 40 degrees in the B direction, the temperature difference from the temperature blown out from the face opening 10 can be reduced.

Further, FIG. 4B shows the air mix door 9
Is opened so as to pass 40% of the heater core 8 and the temperature of air blown out from the face opening 10 is adjusted to 10 degrees, and the temperature of air blown out from the foot opening 11 is changed by changing the opening position of the bilevel air outlet 14a. It can be adjusted in the range of 30 to 40 degrees. For example, if it is 40 degrees in the A direction, this time the face opening 1
The temperature difference from the blowout temperature from 0 can be increased.

FIG. 3B shows the state in the face mode and the defroster mode. Since the foot opening 11 is not blown out, the foot slide door 14 is in the fully closed state. Further, (c) shows a state in the foot mode, and in this case, the foot slide door 14 is rotated to a position where the foot opening 11 is fully opened.

Next, the features of the present invention will be summarized. With these, the temperature of the air blown out from the face opening 10 can be kept constant and the temperature of the air blown out from the foot opening 11 can be adjusted freely, and the temperature difference from the temperature of the air blown out from the face opening 10 can be obtained freely. Will be available. Further, as with the conventional plate door, by driving the rotating shaft 14b to determine the rotational position of the disk slide door 14, the bi-level air outlet 14a is opened and closed from the opening and closing of the foot opening 11.
You can easily adjust the position.

Further, even if the foot outlet temperature is adjusted at the bi-level air outlet 14a, it does not affect the amount of air blown out from each outlet because it only changes the opening position.

Further, in this embodiment, the disc slide doors 14 arranged on the left and right are integrally formed with the rotary shaft 14b, and driven at one end of the rotary shaft 14b to achieve the upper and lower independent temperature control function. If the disk slide doors 14 are configured individually on the right and left sides so that they can be individually driven, a left and right independent foot temperature adjusting mechanism capable of separately adjusting the temperature on the driver side and the passenger side can be easily configured.

(Other Embodiments) The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but can be modified or expanded as follows. In the above-mentioned embodiment, the foot slide door 14 is a semi-circular disc rotary slide door, but it is sufficient if the position of the bi-level air outlet 14a can be adjusted between the hot air passage portion and the cold air passage portion. Therefore, the sliding door may be a linear sliding door or a film sliding door.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a structure of a vehicle air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a positional relationship between a foot opening and a foot slide door, FIG.
(B) shows the face and defroster modes, and (c) shows the foot mode.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing changes in blowout temperature due to variable opening positions in the foot slide door of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a structure of a conventional vehicle air conditioner having an upper / lower independent temperature control function.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing changes in outlet temperature due to opening and closing of a conventional cold air bypass.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 air conditioning case 7 Evaporator 8 heater core 9 Air mix door 11 foot opening 14 foot slide door 14a Bi-level air outlet

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An evaporator (7) for cooling the air and a heater core (8) for heating the air are arranged in a front-rear direction or a vertical direction in an air-conditioning case (2) forming an air passage arranged in a substantially central portion in a vehicle left-right direction. The air mix door (9) adjusts the air volume ratio of the warm air that is heated by passing through the heater core (8) and the cold air that bypasses the heater core (8) and blows out into the vehicle interior. In a vehicle air conditioner for adjusting a temperature of air for use, a foot opening (11) for guiding the air for air conditioning to a foot side of an occupant is provided on both side surfaces of the air conditioning case (2) in the vehicle left-right direction, and Immediately after the air flow in the heater core (8), the air mix door (9) is passed from the portion where the warm air passes.
A foot slide door (14) for opening and closing the foot opening (11) is provided immediately after the flow of the air, through which the cold air passes, and the foot slide door (1
By providing the bi-level air outlet (14a) in 4) and adjusting the position of the bi-level air outlet (14a) between the portion where the warm air passes and the portion where the cold air passes. An air conditioner for a vehicle, wherein a temperature of air for air conditioning blown out from the foot opening (11) is adjusted. 2. The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein a disk-rotating slide door is used as the foot slide door (14).