Refrigeration – With vehicle feature – Occupant-type vehicle
Reexamination Certificate
2002-12-23
2004-05-25
Tapolcai, William E. (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
With vehicle feature
Occupant-type vehicle
C165S042000, C165S043000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06739149
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air conditioner for a vehicle, and more particularly to an air conditioner for a vehicle in which a variable door is installed at the front and rear sides of an evaporator and heater core so that a moving path of air can be switched.
2. Description of the Related Art
An air conditioner for a vehicle includes a cooling system for cooling the inside of the vehicle and a heating system for heating the inside of the vehicle. The cooling system cools the inside of the vehicle by heat exchange between the evaporator and the external air in the step in which a heat exchange medium discharged by the operation of a compressor circulates to return to the compressor via a condenser, a receiver drier, an expansion valve, and an evaporator. The heating system heats the inside of the vehicle through the heat exchange between the internal/external air and a cooling water in a heater core.
Recently, an air conditioner have been developed in which the external air is supplied to the upper portion of the vehicle and the internal air is supplied to the lower portion, realizing a two layer movement of the internal and external air, so that outer heated air is supplied to window glass through a defrost opening to reduce frost, securing defogging performance, and simultaneously internal heated air is supplied to a leg portion for passengers through a floor opening, improving an inside heating performance of a vehicle.
FIG. 1
shows a conventional air conditioner
10
. Referring to the drawing, the air conditioner
10
includes a case
11
, an evaporator
12
for cooling air in the case
11
, a heater core
13
for heating air in the case
11
, a first temp door
14
installed between the evaporator
12
and the heater core
13
, a second temp door
15
installed to the rear of the heater core
13
, and a plurality of blower fans
16
installed at an entrance of the case
11
.
In the operation of the air conditioner
10
having the above structure, the internal air provided by a first blower fan
16
a
passes through the evaporator
12
and is supplied to the lower portion of the heater core
13
with respect to a partition wall
17
. The internal air performs heat exchange at the heater core
13
so as to increase the temperature of the air and is supplied to the inside of a vehicle through a floor opening
111
to heat the inside of the vehicle. The external air provided by a second blower fan
16
b
passes through the evaporator
12
and is supplied to the upper portion of the heater core
13
with respect to the partition wall
17
. The external air performs heat exchange at the heater core
13
and is supplied to window glass through a defrost opening
112
, securing a defogging performance.
Here, the partition wall
17
extends from the central rear side of the evaporator
12
toward the central rear side of the heater core
13
and the extended end portion is arranged to direct a vent outlet
113
. Since the partition wall
17
is installed between the evaporator
12
and the heater core
13
, the internal air and the external air supplied to the inside of a vehicle are prevented from being mixed so that a two layer air flow is formed. However, when the partition wall
17
is fixedly installed at the front and rear sides of the heater core
13
, loss of heat due to heat pick up to cold air bypassing the heater core
13
in the maximum cooling mode increases and a large amount of condensed water can be generated on the surface of the case
11
where the cooled air passes.
FIG. 2
shows an air conditioning apparatus
20
for a vehicle disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. hei 10-338019. Referring to the drawing, the air conditioning apparatus
20
includes a case
21
, an evaporator
22
for cooling air in the case
21
, a heater core
23
for heating the air in the case
21
, an air door
24
installed between the evaporator
22
and the heater core
23
, an auxiliary door
25
, and a heated air bypass door
26
installed at an exit of the heater core
23
.
In a two layer air flow mode, the air door
24
and the auxiliary door
25
pivot in a direction indicated by a solid line to define a first air path
27
through which the internal air flows and a second air path
28
through which the external air flows. The first air path
27
is connected to a floor opening
211
while the second air path
28
is connected to a defrost opening
213
, so that defogging and heating the inside of a vehicle are performed.
However, the air conditioning apparatus
20
requires a space between the end portions of the doors
24
and
25
and the evaporator
22
to secure a pivot space for the air door
24
and the auxiliary door
25
. Such space generates a difference in pressure between the upper portion and the lower portion of the case
21
, generating a fogging phenomenon. Also, since the air door
24
and the auxiliary door
25
pivot at the same time, an operation range of the air door
24
is restricted and the amount of wind at the exit portion of the evaporator
22
decreases, so that the air door
24
and the auxiliary door
25
are interfered with each other.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To solve the above and other problems, the present invention provides an air conditioner for a vehicle in which a variable door for supplying a two layer air flow by forming a partition wall selectively between the evaporator and the heater core is installed to simplify a path of air so that loss of heat is minimized.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an air conditioner for a vehicle comprising a case in which a plurality of air paths separated by a separation wall is formed at an end portion of a body, a defrost opening, a vent opening, and a floor opening are formed to supply the air input through the air paths to areas of the inside of the vehicle, and the defrost opening, the vent opening, and the floor opening are selectively open or closed by doors according to a mode, an evaporator installed at an entrance of the air paths to perform heat exchange to make the air passing through the evaporator in a low temperature state so as to cool the inside of the vehicle, a heater core installed at the rear side of the evaporator to perform heat exchange to make the air passing through the heater core in a hot temperature state so as to heat the inside of the vehicle, a first variable wall installed between the evaporator and the heater core to separate the air paths into upper and lower portions, or connect the separated air paths, and open or close a heated air path of the heater core, a temp door installed at the upper portion of the first variable wall between the evaporator and the heater core to adjust a degree of opening or closing of a cooled air path bypassing the heater core, and a second variable wall installed at the rear side of the heater core to separate the air passing through the heater core into upper and lower portions or connect the separated air paths, wherein the first variable wall and the temp door are independently controlled so that a path of the air passing through the evaporator can be varied.
The first variable wall comprises first and second wall surfaces which are inclined at predetermined angles with respect to a rotation shaft installed between a rear side of the evaporator and a front side of the heater core.
A mode of the first variable wall comprises a mode in which a partition wall is formed to separate the air paths for internal and external air into upper and lower portions between the rear side of the evaporator and the front side of the heater core, and a mode in which the air input along the air paths is prevented from being directly supplied to the heater core and simultaneously guiding the supply.
A floor door is installed at the rear side of the heater core and is opened or closed to control the amount of the hot air passing through the heater core to be discharged through the floor opening.
In a two layer air flow mode, the first and second variable w
Kang Sung-Ho
Lee Heon-Gu
Ali Mohammad M.
Halla Climate Control Corporation
Lowe Hauptman & Gilman & Berner LLP
Tapolcai William E.
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