JP2002046447A - Air conditioning unit for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent condensate from being blown into a cabin and increase the maintainability of a heat exchanger for cooling. SOLUTION: At least a heat exchanger for cooling 29 is disposed in a unit case 3 having a blower 19 installed therein integral with each other or separately from each other generally horizontally so that a flow to mode outlets 51 and 53 can be assured after the air from the blower is passed from the upper side to the lower side. The heat exchanger for cooling is inserted and set to the lower side of the blower 19 detachably to the outside of the unit case.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle air conditioning unit suitable for an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in an air conditioning unit for an automobile, for example, as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-309925, a vertical dimension of a unit case is reduced in a vehicle center-mounted air conditioning unit. For this purpose, an evaporator and a heater core are known which are arranged substantially horizontally.

[0003] The evaporator and the heater core are laid out in a vertical relationship, and above the heater core is a mode outlet for blowing air to a vehicle interior or a windshield.

[0004]

The vertical dimension of the unit case can be reduced by disposing the evaporator and the heater core in a substantially horizontal state, but the air from the blower flows upward from below the evaporator. Therefore, for example, the condensed water of the evaporator may blow out from the mode outlet into the vehicle compartment due to a strong blowing condition.

[0005] For this reason, a countermeasure such as a means for preventing the condensed water from being blown into the vehicle interior is indispensable, and cost reduction can be prevented.

Further, since the blower is laid out so as to blow air from below to above the cooling heat exchanger, it is preferable that the blower be located below the air conditioning unit in view of air blowing efficiency. Since the airbags protrude to the passenger seat side, the space under the passenger seat feet is pressed down, causing a deterioration in comfort.

[0007] Although it is possible to solve the problem by moving the blower upward in order to ensure comfort, there is a restriction that the layout in the instrument panel of the air conditioning unit is moved upward. If only the blower is forcibly moved upward, the connection from the blower to the air conditioning unit becomes discontinuous, resulting in a decrease in air conditioning performance and deterioration of noise. In order to improve this, it is necessary to increase the distance between the air conditioning unit and the blower and make it smoother.In that case, however, a connection duct is required in the middle, which increases the cost and increases the overall cost including the air conditioning unit and the blower. Causes an increase in the dimension in the width direction.

[0008] There is also a problem during maintenance of the cooling heat exchanger. In order to replace the cooling heat exchanger, the work must be done after removing the lower case, but at this time, the blower is on the side, the pedals such as the accelerator and the brake are on the feet of the driver's seat, the rear of the vehicle ( Auxiliary parts such as audio are arranged on the occupant side). For this reason, the blower was once removed, and then the work of attaching and detaching the cooling heat exchanger was performed.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioning unit for a vehicle that has been made in view of the above points and has good on-board characteristics and good maintainability.

[0010]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, at least a cooling heat exchanger is disposed in a unit case in which a blower is integrally or separately mounted. With each mode outlet above,
In the air conditioning unit for a vehicle, the cooling heat exchanger is substantially horizontal so that the flow from the blower passes from above to below the cooling heat exchanger and then flows toward the mode outlets. And is set so as to be able to be taken out of the unit case below the blower.

Thus, the cooling air from the blower flows from above to below the cooling heat exchanger regardless of the blowing conditions, so that the condensed water in the cooling heat exchanger once
The condensed water is directed toward the bottom of the unit case, so that the condensed water is not blown into the vehicle interior from the mode outlet. Further, since the blower can be laid out upward, when the air conditioning unit case is set in the vehicle interior, a large foot space on the passenger seat side can be secured.

On the other hand, the cooling heat exchanger can be easily taken out of the unit case below the blower without any obstruction, so that maintenance at the time of maintenance can be performed quickly.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the cooling heat exchanger is disposed so as to be inclined downward toward the blower, and the lower case portion has an insertion / removal opening to be taken out of the unit case. Thereby, the condensed water is guided in the descending inclination direction by the descending inclination of the cooling heat exchanger, and the drainage property can be improved.

On the other hand, the cooling heat exchanger can be easily taken out from the insertion / removal opening below the blower without being obstructed, and maintenance at the time of maintenance can be performed quickly.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the lower case portion of the unit case is divided into an integral shape.

[0016] Thus, the condensed water of the cooling heat exchanger can be reliably accumulated at the bottom of the lower case portion without causing a seal leak since the bottom can be formed into an integral shape having no abutting surface.

[0017]

According to the air conditioning unit for a vehicle according to the present invention, it is a matter of course that the vertical dimension can be reduced. As a result, the condensed water can be reliably prevented from blowing into the vehicle interior, and the drainage of the condensed water is improved. Further, since the cooling heat exchanger can be easily taken out of the unit case without being obstructed below the blower, the maintenance performance during maintenance can be greatly improved. In addition, when installed in the passenger compartment, the blower can be mounted upward, so that the foot space on the passenger seat side can be widely used.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 shows an air conditioning unit 1 arranged substantially at the center of a vehicle. The left side of the drawing is the passenger seat side, and the right side is the driver seat side. The air-conditioning unit 1 has a blower case 5 on the front passenger seat side of the unit case 3, a filter case 7 above the blower case 5, and a switching door case 9 thereabove, and each of the cases 5, 7, 9 is It has a shape that is integrally combined along the vertical direction. The switching door case 9 has a switching door 15 that pivots about a dotted line and a dashed line to open and close the outside air inlet 11 and the inside air inlet 13. When the switching door 15 is, for example, a dotted line, the inside air inlet 13 is opened. The outside air inlet 11 is closed, and when it is in a dashed line, the outside air inlet 11 is open.
The inside air inlet 13 is controlled to be closed.

The filter case 7 has a filter 17 inside so as to filter dust and the like from the outside air inlet 11 or the inside air inlet 13.

The blower case 5 has a blower 19 such as a centrifugal multi-blade fan (sirocco fan) disposed therein and is supplied with rotational power by a drive motor 21 so that the air from the outside air inlet 11 or the inside air inlet 13 is supplied. The air is blown in a substantially horizontal direction and is sent to the intake 23 of the unit case 3. Thereby, the intake 23 is connected without a sudden change in cross section, so that an increase in noise and a decrease in air volume due to an increase in airflow resistance can be achieved.

The unit case 3 includes left and right case portions 3a,
The lower case portion 3c for storing condensed water is formed in an integral shape without abutting surfaces, and a drain port 25 is provided at the bottom thereof.

In the unit case 3, a heating heat exchanger 27 is arranged near the rear area, and a cooling heat exchanger 29 is arranged below and near the front area. As shown in FIG. The heat exchanger 27 for heating is above the partition wall 31, and the heat exchanger 29 for cooling is below the partition wall 31.
It has become. Above the cooling heat exchanger 29 and behind the heating heat exchanger 27, the inlet 23 opens, and a partition wall 31 that separates the heating heat exchanger 27 and the cooling heat exchanger 29.
After the inflow air is diffused by the cooling heat exchanger 29
To be sent to.

The cooling heat exchanger 29 constitutes a refrigeration cycle including a compressor, a condenser, and an expansion valve (not shown), and has a braided refrigerant passage tube through which refrigerant flows and corrugated fins (neither is shown). Are laminated. The cooling heat exchanger 29 is moved from the substantially horizontal state to the blower 1.
The 9 side has an inclined posture in which it is inclined downward, so that it communicates with the intake port 23 and can be taken out of the blower 19 from the insertion / removal port 33.

Since the intake 23 can be opened to the lower side by the downward inclination of the cooling heat exchanger 29, it is formed in a substantially rectangular shape which is long in the vertical direction, so that the connection of the blower 19 while suppressing expansion can be made possible.

The descending inclination posture of the cooling heat exchanger 29 has a function of allowing the air from the intake 23 to pass from the upper part to the lower part over the entire area and guiding condensed water along the descending inclination direction to thereby improve drainage. As a result, it is possible to take out the blower 19 without interfering with the drive motor 21.

The cooling heat exchanger 29 through which the refrigerant flows IN
Around the OUT connection portion 29a,
The opening and closing is closed by a cover 37 and the periphery is hermetically sealed by a packing 39.

The heating heat exchanger 29 is disposed in the heating passage 48, and is arranged substantially horizontally by receiving heat from an unillustrated engine via a pipe 41. Therefore, the cooling heat exchanger 29, which is in an up-down relationship with the heating heat exchanger 29, interposes the cooling heat exchanger 29 as shown in FIG. By forming the ventilation path 43 having a substantially triangular cross section, the advantage that the ventilation resistance is relatively small as compared with a rectangular ventilation path having the same area can be obtained, which is very preferable in terms of noise. .

On the other hand, the air from the cooling heat exchanger 29
The switching to the heating heat exchanger 27 and the bypass passage 47 is controlled by a mixing door 45 which can be rotated in a solid line and a chain line.

The mixing door 45 is disposed without the rotating shaft 49 projecting toward the bypass passage 47, and covers a part of the cooling heat exchanger 29 which is inclined as shown in FIG. The layout structure does not protrude to 43. Thus, the cross-sectional area of the bypass passage 47 is ensured while reducing the vertical dimension, and the structure does not cause a decrease in the air volume.

The air passing through the bypass passage 47 is ensured to flow toward the upper vent port 51, the differential port 53, and the foot port 55.

At the vent port 51 and the differential port 53, a vent door 57 and a differential door 59 rotatable in a solid line and a dashed line, respectively, are arranged. When the differential door 59 is a solid line, the differential port 53 is opened and the vent port 51 is closed. Is controlled.

Therefore, by rotating the vent door 57 and the differential door 59 to the solid line or the dashed line corresponding to the solid line and the dashed line of the mix door 45, the cooling heat exchanger 2
9, and the conditioned air passing through the heating heat exchanger 27 or the cool air passing through the cooling heat exchanger 29 can be selected and blown out from the differential port 53, the vent port 51, and the foot port 55. .

The air-conditioning unit 1 configured as described above
According to this, the air blown out from the blower 19 passes through the cooling heat exchanger 29 from the inlet 23, and then flows toward the heating heat exchanger 27 in response to the rotation of the mix door 45, A flow towards the port 53 and the vent 51 is obtained. At this time, the air from the blower 19 flows through the cooling heat exchanger 29 from above to below, so that the condensed water in the cooling heat exchanger 29 once flows toward the bottom of the unit case 3. .

Therefore, for example, the condensed water is
No more blowing out of the vehicle into the vehicle interior. In addition, the lower case portion 3c can be reliably accumulated without causing a seal leak due to the integral shape having no abutting surface at the bottom portion,
The water is smoothly drained from the drain port 25 to the outside.

On the other hand, since the cooling heat exchanger 29 can be taken out without being obstructed below the blower 19 at the time of maintenance as shown by a chain line in FIG. 1, maintenance at the time of maintenance can be performed quickly. . Further, since the blower 19 has an upward layout structure, the foot space on the passenger seat side can be widely used.

FIGS. 6 to 9 show the second embodiment of the air conditioning unit 1.
1 is an embodiment of the present invention. That is, the unit case 3 can be vertically divided into an upper case portion 61 and a lower case portion 63.

The upper case section 61 includes the above-described heating heat exchanger 27, the mix door 45, the vent door 57, the differential door 59, and the like. The lower case portion 63 has an inlet 23 for taking in air from the blower 19 including the cooling heat exchanger 29.

The other components are the same as those in the first embodiment, so the same reference numerals are used and the detailed description is omitted.

Therefore, according to the second embodiment, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment, the upper case 61
Since it can be used in common for right-hand drive and left-hand drive models, the number of case parts can be reduced, which is very favorable in terms of man-hours for parts management and cost.

Further, since the upper case 61 can be divided from the abutting surface 65, the upper case 61 is turned sideways.
The doors 45, 57, 59, a driving device (not shown) for driving the doors 45, 57, 59, and the assembling work of the heating heat exchanger 27 can be easily and quickly performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic rear view of an air conditioning unit according to the present invention as viewed from a passenger compartment side.

FIG. 2 is a schematic rear view similar to FIG. 1 with a part of a unit case body cut away.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an overall schematic front view of the air conditioning unit as viewed from an engine room side.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a state in which a cooling heat exchanger is partially extracted below a blower.

FIG. 6 is a schematic rear view of the entire air-conditioning unit according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view in which a heater unit is removed.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of the unit case as viewed from the direction of arrow B in FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view of the unit case with the heater unit removed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Unit case 19 Blower 29 Heat exchanger for cooling 27 Heat exchanger for heating 51, 53 Diff port, vent port (mode outlet)

Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Toshio Yajima 5-24-15 Minamidai, Nakano-ku, Tokyo Inside Calsonic Nick Kansei Corporation (72) Inventor Hidenobu Arakawa 5-24-15 Minamidai, Nakano-ku, Tokyo Calsonic Nick Kansei shares Company F-term (reference) 3L011 BA01 BP01

Claims (3)

[Claims] An air conditioning unit for a vehicle, wherein at least a cooling heat exchanger is disposed in a unit case in which a blower is integrally or separately mounted and each mode air outlet is provided at an upper side, the cooling heat exchange unit is provided. After the air from the blower passes from above to below the heat exchanger for cooling, it is arranged in a substantially horizontal direction so that a flow toward each of the mode outlets is ensured, and below the blower. An air conditioning unit for a vehicle, which is set so as to be able to be taken out of a unit case. 2. The cooling heat exchanger is disposed so as to be inclined downward toward the blower, and the lower case portion has an insertion / removal opening for taking out the cooling heat exchanger to the outside of a unit case. The air conditioning unit for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein 3. The air conditioning unit for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the lower case portion of the unit case is divided into an integral shape.