JPH10147130A - Air-conditioning device for automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a compact air-conditioning device having a reduced ventilation resistance and an enhanced temperature adjusting ability. SOLUTION: A heater core 24 and an evaporator 23 are vertically arranged in substantially parallel with each other within a unit casing 22, and a cold air passage 29 downstream of the evaporator 23 is formed straight line-like along the unit casing 22 while a hot air passage 28 is formed so as to be curved by offsetting the heat core 24 from the cold air passage. Further, a partition wall 40 for partitioning a cold air blow-off port 31 from hot air blow-off ports 32, 33, and the hot air blow-off ports from the hot air passage is formed therein with a first opening 41 confronting a zone where cold air mainly flows into, and a second opening 42 confronting an air outlet port 24a of the heater core, A first door 43 is attached to the first opening 41 while a second door 44 is attached to the second opening 42 so as to be openable and closable. These doors 43, 44 are opened and closed and are adjusted for their opening degrees in accordance with an air-conditioning mode.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner for an automobile, and more particularly to an air conditioner for an automobile in which an evaporator and a heater core are provided in one unit case.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a general automotive air conditioner, as shown in FIG. 5, an intake unit 10 for taking in outside air or inside air, a cooler unit 12 provided with an evaporator 11 for cooling the introduced air, and A heater unit 13 for heating the taken-in air is provided, and a heater unit 14 for conditioning air at a desired temperature is provided.
It is attached to the lower part of the instrument panel in the vehicle interior so as to extend in the left-right direction of the vehicle.

[0003]

However, in a small car or the like in which the cabin is narrow, there is a problem that if the above-described vehicle air conditioner is mounted extending in the left-right direction of the vehicle, the foot space for the occupant is reduced. Heretofore, there has been a demand for the development of a compact automotive air conditioner that can utilize a surplus space in a room.

Further, when designing an air conditioner for a vehicle, it is necessary to exert an essential function of supplying appropriate conditioned air before solving the layout problem. It is indispensable to ensure the arrangement for minimizing the ventilation resistance in the case and the so-called temperature control performance for adjusting the temperature of the air blown into the vehicle compartment to a desired temperature.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such problems of the prior art, and has as its object to provide an air conditioner for a vehicle which is compact, has reduced airflow resistance and improved temperature control performance. Aim.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a unit case, an evaporator which is housed in the unit case and cools air, and which is housed in the unit case. An air passage after the evaporator, comprising: a heater core for heating air; a cool air outlet provided in the unit case for mainly drawing out cold air; and a hot air outlet provided for the unit case and mainly for drawing out hot air. However, in an air conditioner for an automobile, which is branched into a warm air passage passing through the heater core and a cool air passage bypassing the heater core, the evaporator and the heater core are arranged substantially in parallel, and the cold air passage is provided. Is formed linearly along the unit case, while the hot air passage is formed to be curved with respect to the cold air passage. A first opening facing a region through which cool air flows, and a second opening facing an air outlet of the heater core, on a partition wall that separates the cold air outlet from the hot air outlet and separates the hot air outlet from the hot air passage. An opening, and a first door is attached to the first opening so as to be openable and closable, and a second door is attached to the second opening so as to be openable and closable.
An air conditioner for a vehicle, characterized in that the first and second doors are opened and closed or the opening is adjusted in accordance with an air conditioning mode.

In the air conditioner for a vehicle having such a configuration, the evaporator and the heater core are arranged substantially in parallel in the unit case. Therefore, the air conditioner is extremely compact, and is arranged by utilizing the extra space in the vehicle interior. be able to. Further, by forming the cool air passage linearly along the unit case, the ventilation resistance at the time of full cooling can be reduced, and the rapid cooling effect can be enhanced. Further, when the second opening is opened according to the air conditioning mode,
Since the curved shape of the hot air passage is changed from the air outlet of the heater core to a straight line shape, the ventilation resistance of the hot air passage is significantly reduced, resulting in a large air volume without increasing noise up to the hot air outlet. Of hot air can flow down.

Further, the invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the heater core is provided substantially horizontally above the evaporator.

In the present invention, the heater core and the evaporator need only be substantially parallel, and may be arranged vertically (the air passage surface is substantially vertical) or may be arranged horizontally (the air passage surface is substantially vertical). It can be placed almost horizontally), or both can be placed diagonally,
As in the second aspect of the present invention, it is more preferable that the heater core be provided substantially horizontally above the evaporator. As described above, when the heater core is provided at the upper part and the evaporator is provided at the lower part, the dimension of the unit case in the vehicle left-right direction or the front-rear direction can be reduced while the height of the unit case is kept within a predetermined range. Therefore, the installation space of the unit case in the vehicle compartment can be significantly reduced. Further, by disposing the evaporator at the lower part, the drainage structure of the condensed water generated in the evaporator becomes easy.

[0010] The invention according to claim 3 is the second invention.
The opening is opened in a hot air conditioning mode.

[0011] By opening the second opening in the hot air conditioning mode, the curved shape of the hot air passage is changed from the air outlet of the heater core to a linear shape, so that the ventilation resistance of the path through which the hot air passes is significantly reduced. You. As a result, up to the hot air outlet
A large amount of hot air can flow down without increasing noise, and it is possible to improve heating performance, window clearing performance, and the like.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the cool air derived from the cool air outlet is blown toward the upper body of the occupant, and the warm air derived from the warm air outlet is blown toward the feet of the occupant. In the bi-level mode, the first opening is opened and the second opening is closed.

According to this configuration, the hot air passing through the heater core does not flow from the second opening to the hot air outlet, but flows through the curved hot air passage, and flows from the first opening to the hot air outlet. And is blown out toward the feet of the occupant. Therefore, the excessively large amount of warm air does not flow to the warm air outlet, so that the temperature difference between the cool air blown toward the upper body of the occupant and the warm air blown toward the feet does not become too large. , Comfortable head cold foot heat type air conditioning can be realized.

Further, in the invention according to a fifth aspect, in the bi-level mode, the second door is opened and closed with an opening adjusted.

Since the temperature sensation of the occupant and the use environment of the vehicle are different from each other, the above-described configuration enables
The temperature difference in the bi-level mode can be set as desired from a wide range, and it is possible to widely accept the needs of the user.

The invention according to claim 6 is the first invention.
The door is characterized by being integrally formed with a door for a cool air outlet provided at the cool air outlet so as to be openable and closable.

According to this configuration, since the first door can be opened and closed using the drive system of the door for the cool air outlet, the drive system for the first door does not become complicated.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a unit of an air conditioner for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The unit case 2 of the unit 21 shown in FIG.
An evaporator 23 and a heater core 24 are housed in the inside 2. The heater core 24 and the evaporator 23 are housed such that the air passage surface is substantially horizontal and the heater core 24 is located above the evaporator 23. A curved guide plate 25 for guiding the air passing through the evaporator 23 is formed between the evaporator 23 and the heater core 24. Refrigerant from a cooling cycle (not shown) circulates through the evaporator 23, and exchanges heat with the intake air to cool the intake air. Further, cooling water of the engine circulates through the heater core 24 and heats the air by exchanging heat with the air passing through the heater core 24.

The unit 21 is connected to an intake unit (not shown), and outside air and / or inside air taken in by the intake unit is introduced into the unit case 22 from an inlet 26 formed below the evaporator 23. , Passes through the evaporator 23 and flows upward.

By arranging the evaporator 23 and the heater core 24 vertically above and below as described above, the size of the unit case in the height direction can be kept within a predetermined range, and the size of the unit case in the vehicle left-right direction or the front-back direction can be reduced. Can be smaller. As a result, the extremely compact unit 21 is configured, and the installation space of the unit case 22 in the vehicle compartment can be significantly reduced. Therefore, the unit case 22 can be disposed by using the extra space in the vehicle compartment.

The heater core 2 is located near the heater core 24.
The hot air passage 28 flowing down to the mixing chamber 27 through the nozzle 4 is formed in a curved shape, and a cool air passage 29 is formed to bypass the heater core 24 and ascend to the mixing chamber 27 along the unit case 22 as it is. ing. In other words, the cool air passage 29 formed linearly along the unit case 22.
In contrast, the heater core 24 is offset, whereby the hot air passage 28 is formed to be curved. The hot air passage 28 and the cold air passage 2 are located on the front surface of the heater core 24.
At the branch point to 9, a mix door 30 is provided rotatably.

The degree of opening of the mix door 30 is adjusted by a motor actuator or the like in accordance with the temperature set by the occupant, and a full cool position FC (shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 1) in which the hot air passage 28 is fully closed. Position) and the cold air passage 29
Is rotated between a full hot position FH (a position indicated by a solid line in FIG. 1) for fully closing the position. The ratio of the amount of air flowing to the warm air passage 28 to the amount of air flowing to the cool air passage 29 is adjusted by the opening degree of the mix door 30. The air that has passed through the evaporator 23 is branched by the mix door 30 into a hot air passage 28 and a cool air passage 29, and the air guided to the hot air passage 28 is heated by passing through the heater core 24.
On the other hand, the air guided to the cold air passage 29 maintains the temperature as it is, but when it flows down to the mixing chamber 27, it is mixed with the warm air passed through the warm air passage 28 to become air adjusted to a desired temperature.

At the upper part of the unit case 22, a vent outlet 31 serving as a cool air outlet for mainly drawing out cool air is provided.
In addition, a foot air outlet 32 and a defrost air outlet 33 serving as hot air outlets for mainly drawing out hot air are formed. The foot outlet 32 is formed on the side surface of the unit case 22 near the vent outlet 31. The vent outlet 31, the foot outlet 32, and the defrost outlet 33 respectively supply conditioned air toward the upper body of the occupant in the passenger compartment and conditioned air toward the feet of the occupant in the passenger compartment. An outlet for blowing air, and an outlet for blowing conditioned air toward the inner surface of the windshield or side glass. Further, a vent door (corresponding to a cool air outlet) 3 for opening and closing the vent outlet 31 is provided.
4. A differential foot door 35 for opening and closing the defrost outlet 33 and the foot outlet 32 is attached to be openable and closable.
Each of the air outlets 31, 32, 33 is opened and closed according to the air conditioning mode.

In particular, in the unit 21 of the air conditioner for a vehicle according to the present embodiment, the cool air outlet 31 (vent outlet) and the hot air outlet 3 are provided above the unit case 22.
A partition wall 40 is provided for partitioning the hot air outlets 32, 33 from the hot air passage 28, and the hot air passages 28, 33 (foot outlets and defrost outlets). The partition wall 40 has a first opening 41 facing a region of the mixing chamber 27 into which the cool air mainly flows and adjacent to the foot outlet 32, and a second opening 42 facing the air outlet 24a of the heater core 24. . The first door 4 that opens and closes the first opening 41
3. A second door 44 for opening and closing the second opening 42 is attached so as to be openable and closable so that the first opening 41 and the second opening 42 are opened and closed according to the air conditioning mode.

Further, in the illustrated embodiment, the first door 4
Numeral 3 is integrally formed with the vent door 34 to form a butterfly door 45 as a whole. In the butterfly door 45, when the vent door 34 closes the vent outlet 31, the first door 43 also closes the first opening 41. As the vent door 34 opens the vent outlet 31, the first door 43 also opens the first opening 41. To rotate. Further, when the vent door 34 opens the vent outlet 31 to the maximum, the first opening 41 is closed by the vent door 34 rotated to this position. By integrating the first door 43 and the vent door 34 into the butterfly door 45, the drive system of the vent door 34 can be diverted and the first door 43 can be opened and closed, so that the drive system for the first door 43 does not become complicated. .

Next, the operation will be described.

According to the unit 21 of the air conditioner for a vehicle configured as described above, the air from the intake unit is introduced into the unit case 22 from the inlet 26 and is cooled by passing through the evaporator 23. The air that has passed through the evaporator 23 rises while being guided by the guide plate 25, and reaches the mix door 30. The air that has passed through the evaporator 23 by the mixing door 30 is
Branched into a hot air passage 28 and a cold air passage 29,
The air guided to 8 passes through the heater core 24 to become hot air and flows down to the mixing chamber 27, and the air guided to the cold air passage 29 flows down to the mixing chamber 27 while keeping the cool air. Hot air and cold air are mixed in the mixing chamber 27 to become air adjusted to a desired temperature.

The air in the mixing chamber 27 is blown out from the outlets 31, 32, 33 corresponding to the air conditioning mode set by the occupant. The air conditioning mode is set by, for example, operating an air conditioning mode lever provided in the vehicle interior. The flow of air for each air conditioning mode will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams showing the flow of air mainly in a hot air conditioning mode in which hot air is blown into the vehicle interior. The hot air system air-conditioning modes include a foot mode in which warm air is blown toward the feet of the occupant to heat the passenger compartment and a defrost mode in which fogging of glass is removed.
(A) shows the air flow in the foot mode, and (B) shows the air flow in the defrost mode.

As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, in the hot air conditioning mode, the vent outlet 31 is fully closed by the vent door 34, and the first opening 41 is also fully closed by the first door 43. , The second opening 42 is fully opened by the second door 44. When the foot mode is selected, the foot outlet 32 is fully opened and the defrost outlet 33 is fully closed by the differential foot door 35 as shown in FIG. When the defrost mode is selected, the foot outlet 32 is fully closed and the defrost outlet 33 is fully opened by the differential foot door 35 as shown in FIG. 2B.

In the hot air system air-conditioning mode, since the second opening 42 is open, the air outlet 24a of the heater core 24 faces the second opening 42, and the hot air passing through the heater core 24 is directed to the hot air outlets 32 and 33. Flow down as it is. Full hot position F where mix door 30 fully closes cold air passage 29
When the temperature is other than H, the cool air flowing down the cool air passage 29 is mixed with the warm air in the mixing chamber 27, and the air adjusted to a desired temperature flows toward the warm air outlets 32 and 33. In the foot mode, the warm air can be blown mainly toward the feet of the occupant to heat the passenger compartment.In the defrost mode, the warm air can be blown mainly toward the inner surface of the windshield or side glass. Defrosting of the glass can be performed.

By opening the second opening 42 in the warm air system air-conditioning mode as described above, the curved shape of the warm air passage 28 is changed from the air outlet 24a of the heater core 24 to a linear shape, so that the warm air flows. The ventilation resistance of the path is significantly reduced. As a result, a large amount of hot air can flow down to the foot outlet 32 or the defrost outlet 33 without increasing noise, and the heating performance and window clearing performance can be improved.

The differential / foot mode for heating the vehicle interior and preventing fogging of the windows is also one of the hot air system air-conditioning modes. By 35, the foot outlet 32 is widely opened, and the defrost outlet 33 is slightly opened. The flow of air is the same as described above. As a result, the ventilation performance of the path through which the warm air passes is reduced, so that the heating performance and the window clearing performance can be improved.

FIG. 3A shows the flow of air in the vent mode.

As shown in FIG. 3A, in the vent mode, only the vent outlet 31 is fully opened by the vent door 34, and the defrost outlet 33 is the differential foot door 35.
Accordingly, the first opening 41 connected to the foot outlet 32 is fully closed by the vent door 34, and the second opening 42 is fully closed by the second door 44, respectively.

In the vent mode, the first and second openings 41,
Since both 42 are closed, air does not flow toward foot outlet 32 and defrost outlet 33.
When the mix door 30 is at a position other than the full cool position FC at which the warm air passage 28 is fully closed, the warm air flowing down the warm air passage 28 is mixed with the cool air in the mixing chamber 27 and air adjusted to a desired temperature is provided. Flows down toward the vent outlet 31. Thus, it is possible to cool the passenger compartment mainly by blowing cold air toward the upper body of the occupant.

In the vent mode, the second opening 42 is closed, so that the hot air passage 28 remains in a curved shape. However, in this mode, the amount of hot air is relatively small,
Even if the ventilation resistance of No. 8 is slightly increased, there is no hindrance to the temperature control performance.

In the unit 21 of the air conditioner for a vehicle according to the present embodiment, the evaporator 23 is operated particularly in the full cool mode in which the mix door 30 completely closes the hot air passage 28 and only the vent outlet 31 is fully opened. Since the passed cool air rises linearly in the cool air passage 29 along the unit case 22, the ventilation resistance is small, and the rapid cooling effect can be enhanced.

Further, when the cooling cycle is operated to circulate the refrigerant through the evaporator 23, heat exchange is performed with the intake air, and condensed water adheres to the surface of the evaporator 23. In the unit 21 of the automotive air conditioner, the evaporator 23 is disposed below the unit case 22, so that the condensed water can be directly dropped into the unit case 22 and drained from the drain port 36.

FIG. 3B shows the flow of air in the bilevel mode. The bi-level mode is an air-conditioning mode of a cold head and foot type, in which cool air derived from the vent outlet 31 is blown toward the upper body of the occupant and warm air derived from the foot outlet 32 is blown toward the feet of the occupant.

As shown in FIG. 3B, in the bi-level mode, the vent outlet 31 is half-opened by the vent door 34, and accordingly, the first opening 41 is half-opened by the first door 43. The defrost outlet 33 is fully closed by a differential foot door 35, and the second opening 42 is fully closed by a second door 44.

In the bi-level mode, since the first opening 41 is half-opened, the warm air flowing down the hot air passage 28 mainly flows down to the foot outlet 32 through the first opening 41, and the cold air passage 29 The cool air that has flowed down flows mainly toward the vent outlet 31. As a result, while cold air is blown out to the upper body of the occupant, warm air is blown out to the feet, and air conditioning of a head-and-foot-heat type can be performed.

In particular, in the unit 21 of the air conditioner for a vehicle according to the present embodiment, since the second opening 42 and the second door 44 for reducing the ventilation resistance of the hot air passage 28 are provided, the bi-level mode is provided. At the time, by controlling the opening degree of the second door 44 to open and close, it is possible to easily control the temperature difference between the foot wind and the vent wind blown into the vehicle interior.

That is, as is clear from the temperature characteristic diagram in the bi-level mode shown in FIG. 4, the temperature difference between the foot wind and the vent wind is minimized when the second opening 42 is fully closed. By rotating the second door 44, the second opening 42
The second opening 42
It becomes the maximum when is fully opened. The temperature difference between the foot wind and the vent wind in the bilevel mode, the so-called vertical
Although it is considered preferable to set the temperature to 0 to 30 ° C., since the temperature sensation of the occupants and the use environment of the vehicle are individually different, the upper and lower temperature difference can be set as desired from a wide range. The unit 21 according to the present embodiment can widely accept user requests.

[0046]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, since the evaporator and the heater core are disposed substantially in parallel in the unit case, an extremely compact automobile air conditioner can be provided. Become. Therefore,
It is possible to effectively utilize the extra space in the vehicle interior. Further, by forming the cool air passage linearly along the unit case, the ventilation resistance at the time of full cooling can be reduced, and the rapid cooling effect can be enhanced. Furthermore, when the second opening is opened in accordance with the air conditioning mode, the curved shape of the hot air passage is changed to a linear shape from the air outlet of the heater core, so that the ventilation resistance of the hot air passage is significantly reduced, A large amount of hot air can flow down to the hot air outlet without increasing noise.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the size of the unit case in the vehicle left-right direction or the front-rear direction can be reduced while the size of the unit case in the height direction is kept within a predetermined range. Therefore, the installation space of the unit case in the vehicle compartment can be significantly reduced. Also, by placing the evaporator at the bottom,
The drainage structure of the condensed water generated in the evaporator becomes easy.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the second opening is opened in the hot air conditioning mode, the curved shape of the hot air passage is changed to a linear shape from the air outlet of the heater core. The ventilation resistance of the path through which the air flows is significantly reduced. As a result, it is possible to cause a large amount of hot air to flow down to the hot air outlet without increasing noise, thereby improving heating performance, window clearing performance, and the like.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, unnecessarily large amount of hot air does not flow down to the hot air outlet in the bi-level mode. The temperature difference from the hot air blown out toward the head does not become too large, and it is possible to realize comfortable head and foot heat type air conditioning.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the temperature difference in the bi-level mode can be set as desired from a wide range. Therefore, it is possible to widely accept user requests.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, since the first door can be opened and closed by diverting the drive system for the door for the cool air outlet, the drive system for the first door is not complicated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a unit of an air conditioner for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams showing the flow of air mainly in a hot air system air-conditioning mode in which hot air is blown into a vehicle cabin, and FIG. FIG. 4B shows the flow of air, and FIG. 4B shows the flow of air in a defrost mode.

FIG. 3A is a diagram showing an air flow in a vent mode, and FIG. 3B is a diagram showing an air flow in a bi-level mode.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing a temperature characteristic diagram in a bilevel mode according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a conventional automobile air conditioner.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 21 ... Unit of automotive air conditioner 22 ... Unit case 23 ... Evaporator 24 ... Heater core 24a ... Heater core air outlet 27 ... Mixing chamber 28 ... Warm air passage 29 ... Cold air passage 31 ... Vent outlet (cool air outlet) 32 ... Foot outlet (hot air outlet) 33 ... Defrost outlet (hot air outlet) 34 ... Vent door (door for cold air outlet) 35 ... Def-foot door 40 ... Partition wall 41 ... First opening 42 ... Second opening 43 ... Second 1 door 44 ... 2nd door

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A unit case (22), an evaporator (23) stored in the unit case (22) for cooling air, and a heater core (24) stored in the unit case (22) and heating the air. A cold air outlet (31) provided in the unit case (22) for mainly drawing out cool air; and a hot air outlet (32, 3) provided in the unit case (22) for mainly drawing out hot air.
3), wherein an air passage after the evaporator (23) is a hot air passage (28) passing through the heater core (24) and a cold air passage (29) flowing around the heater core (24). The evaporator (23) and the heater core (24) are disposed substantially parallel to each other, and the cold air passage (29) is linearly arranged along the unit case (22). On the other hand, the hot air passage (28) is formed to be curved with respect to the cold air passage (29), and the cold air outlet (31) and the hot air outlet (32, 3) are formed.
A first opening (41) facing a region where cold air mainly flows into a partition (40) that partitions the hot air outlet (32, 33) from the hot air passage (28) while partitioning the hot air outlet (32, 33).
A second opening (42) facing an air outlet (24a) of the heater core (24); a first door (43) is attached to the first opening (41) so as to be openable and closable; 42), a second door (44) is attached so as to be openable and closable, and the first and second doors (43, 4) are selected according to the air conditioning mode.
4) An air conditioner for an automobile, characterized in that the opening and closing or the opening degree is adjusted. 2. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the heater core (24) is provided substantially horizontally above the evaporator (23). 3. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the second opening is opened in a hot air conditioning mode. 4. A bi-level mode for blowing cold air derived from the cold air outlet (31) toward the upper body of the occupant and blowing warm air derived from the hot air outlet (32) toward the foot of the occupant. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the first opening (41) is sometimes opened and the second opening (42) is closed. 5. The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 4, wherein in the bi-level mode, the second door is opened and closed with an opening adjusted. 6. The cold air outlet door (34), which is openably and closably provided at the cold air outlet (31), wherein the first door (43) is integrally formed. Item 4. An air conditioner for an automobile according to item 1.