Heat exchange – With timer – programmer – time delay – or condition responsive... – Having heating and cooling capability
Reexamination Certificate
2001-06-28
2004-08-31
Ford, John K. (Department: 3753)
Heat exchange
With timer, programmer, time delay, or condition responsive...
Having heating and cooling capability
C165S202000, C165S204000, C165S042000, C165S043000, C454S156000, C454S160000, C454S161000, C454S139000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06782944
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to air conditioners for vehicles and, more particularly, to an air conditioner for vehicles having a two layer flow structure, designed to feed recirculation air and fresh air in a separate air feeding or a mixed air feeding using a single intake duct and a single intake control door, thus improving its heating and defrosting efficiency during a heating mode operation, and preventing an undesired discharging of white fogging from the vents during a cooling mode operation by changing its air feeding mode from a recirculation air mode to fresh air feeding mode.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 10
is a view, showing the construction and operation of a conventional air conditioner for vehicles. As shown in the drawing, the conventional air conditioner for vehicles typically comprises a cooling unit and a heating unit, either of which is selectively operated as desired. In an operation of the conventional air conditioner in a cooling mode, a compressor
61
is operated by the rotating force of the internal combustion engine (not shown) of a vehicle to compress refrigerant prior to feeding the compressed refrigerant to a condenser
62
. At the condenser
62
, ambient air forcibly fed from a cooling fan (not shown) absorbs heat from the refrigerant, thus condensing and cooling the refrigerant. The condensed refrigerant from the condenser
62
then passes through a receiver dryer
63
, an expansion valve
64
, and an evaporator
65
sequentially prior to being returned to the compressor
61
, thus accomplishing one refrigeration cycle. During the above-mentioned refrigeration cycle, pressurized air fed from the fan
661
of a blower unit
66
passes by the evaporator
65
while losing heat to the cold refrigerant, thus becoming cooled air prior to being discharged from the housing of the air conditioner into the passenger compartment of the vehicle. In an operation of the air conditioner in a heating mode, the pressurized air fed from the fan
661
of the blower unit
66
is heated by hot coolant passing through a heater core
67
when the hot coolant is returned to the engine through the heater core
67
. During the heating mode, the air is thus heated prior to being discharged from the housing of the air conditioner into the passenger compartment, while the coolant is cooled prior to being returned to the engine.
In such a conventional air conditioner, both the evaporator
65
and the heater core
67
are set within the housing
7
of the air conditioner. The blower unit
66
is installed inside the air inlet end of the housing
7
at a position in front of the evaporator
65
, while three air outlet vents: a defrost vent
71
, a face vent
72
and a floor vent
73
are provided in the air outlet end of the housing
7
at positions in back of the heater core
67
. Of the three air outlet vents, the defrost vent
71
discharges warm or cold air from the housing
7
to the windshield and side glasses of the vehicle, thus defrosting the windshield and side glasses. The face vent
72
discharges warm or cold air from the housing
7
to the upper portion inside the passenger compartment, thus heating or cooling the upper portion of the compartment. The floor vent
73
discharges warm or cold air from the housing
7
to the lower portion of the passenger compartment, thus heating or cooling the lower portion of the compartment. A vent control door
711
,
712
or
731
is installed at each of the three air outlet vents
71
,
72
and
73
to control the vents as desired.
In the conventional air conditioner, both a fresh air intake opening
663
and a recirculation air intake opening
664
are respectively formed on the upper portion of the blower case
662
of the blower unit
66
at opposite sides of the case
662
, with one intake control door
665
hinged to the case
662
such that the door
665
selectively closes either of the two air intake openings
663
and
664
as desired. Therefore, when only fresh air is introduced into the housing
7
through the fresh air intake opening
663
to circulate the fresh air in the passenger compartment during an operation of the air conditioner, the compressor
61
is undesirably overloaded to excessively consume power of the engine. On the other hand, when only recirculation air is introduced into the housing
7
through the recirculation air intake opening
664
to circulate the recirculation air in the passenger compartment during an operation of the air conditioner, the circulated air within the passenger compartment is gradually reduced in its freshness to become contaminated, thus ill-affecting the passenger's health. When the intake control door
665
is positioned at its neutral position to allow fresh air and recirculation air to be mixed together, the recirculation air included in the mixed air is continuously discharged into the passenger compartment during an operation of the air conditioner, thus preventing the passengers from feeling freshness of the fresh air and forcing the passengers to feel unpleasant.
In an effort to overcome such problems experienced in the conventional air conditioner for vehicles, another air conditioner designed to feed recirculation air and fresh air into the passenger compartment in a separate air feeding or a mixed air feeding, has been proposed.
Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. Heisei. 9-24722 discloses an example of such air conditioners. This air conditioner has three air intake openings, with two intake control doors used for controlling the flow of recirculation and fresh air through the three intake openings. However, this air conditioner is problematic in that it requires too many parts, inducing a complex construction, due to the complex mechanism for operating the intake control door.
Another example of such air conditioners may be referred to Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. Heisei. 9-24723. This air conditioner has first and second air intake openings designed to selectively recirculation or fresh air, in addition to a third air intake opening used for intaking recirculation air exclusively, with two intake control doors used for controlling the flow of recirculation and fresh air through the three intake openings. However, this air conditioner is problematic in that it requires too many parts, inducing a complex construction, due to the complex mechanism for operating the intake control door in the same manner as described above.
A further example of such air conditioners may be referred to Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication Nos. Heisei. 9-156348 and Heisei. 10-16539. Each of these air conditioners has one fresh air intake opening and two recirculation air intake openings, with two intake control doors used for controlling the flow of recirculation and fresh air through the three intake openings. In addition, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication Nos. Heisei. 9-240247, Heisei. 9-240248 and Heisei. 10-86637 each disclose an air conditioner having one recirculation air intake opening, one fresh air intake opening, and two intake control door of the sliding type used for controlling the flow of recirculation or fresh air through the recirculation air intake opening and the fresh air intake opening. This air conditioner also has one recirculation air intake opening controlled by a separate intake control door. As further prior art reference documents, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication Nos. Heisei. 10-915 and Heisei. 10-86637 each disclose an air conditioner having one recirculation air intake opening and one fresh air intake opening with one intake control door used for controlling the flow of recirculation or fresh air through the recirculation air intake opening and fresh air intake opening. This air conditioner also has one recirculation air intake opening controlled by a separate intake control door.
However, the above-mentioned air conditioners are problematic in that they have two intake control doors for controlling the flow of recirculation and fresh air relative to the
Kim In Kap
Park Chang Ho
Park Tae Young
Ford John K.
Halla Climate Control Corp.
Lowe Hauptman & Gilman & Berner LLP
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