Heat exchange – With vehicle feature – Heating and cooling
Reexamination Certificate
1996-10-11
2001-10-30
Ford, John K. (Department: 3743)
Heat exchange
With vehicle feature
Heating and cooling
C165S043000, C165S153000, C165S126000, C165S203000, C237S01230B, C237S01230A, C454S156000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06308770
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an air conditioning apparatus for a vehicle, in which conditioned air having different states from each other pass through respective air passages partitioned by a partition plate and are simultaneously blown out from plural air outlets into a passenger compartment. Particularly, the present invention relates to an arrangement of the partition plate for partitioning the air passages.
2. Related Arts
Conventionally, an air conditioning apparatus in which air flows having different states such as temperature or humidity from each other are respectively blown out from plural air outlets has been known as disclosed in JP-A-60-8105. In this air conditioning apparatus, it is possible to prevent the heating efficiency from deteriorating as well as the windshield from being clouded in a heating operation.
In the air conditioning apparatus disclosed in JP-A-60-8105, an interior of a case is divided into an outside air passage and an inside air passage by partition plates, and an evaporator, a heater core portion which is a half of the heater core and divided by a partition plate, and a fan are disposed in each of the air passages. Accordingly, the inside air and the outside air can pass through the evaporator and the heater core without being mixed with each other. Therefore, the inside air after being conditioned can be blown out into the passenger compartment from a foot air outlet, and the outside air after being conditioned, humidity of which is low, can be blown out from a defroster air outlet.
However, according to examinations by the inventors, turns out that separation characteristics for separating air flows passing into the respective air passages is deteriorated, depending on the arrangement of the partition plates.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been accomplished on the basis of the following findings.
As shown in
FIG. 9
, a laminated type evaporator
11
is composed of plural tubes
20
and fins
21
. Each main passage
20
b
is formed between each pair of the adjacent tube wall surfaces
20
a
of flat tubes
20
, and a fin
21
(a corrugated fin) is folded and disposed in each main passage
20
b.
The main passage
20
b
is partitioned into plural secondary air passages
20
c
by a plate, and the adjacent secondary air passages
20
c
are communicated with each other through plural louvers
22
which are formed by cutting the plate so as to stand from the plate surface.
In an air conditioning apparatus having the above mentioned evaporator
11
, airflows such as inside air and outside airflows having different states from each other flow into the evaporator
11
through a first and a second air passage divided by partition plates
17
and
18
without being mixed with each other. However, when the partition plates
17
and
18
are disposed generally perpendicular to the tubes
20
so as to form the first and second air passages
10
a
and
10
b
as shown in FIG. airflows which have passed through the evaporator
11
10
, separately may be mixed together in the evaporator
11
, because the adjacent secondary air passages communicated with each other through the louvers
22
. Consequently, there is a problem that the separation characteristics for separating airflows may be deteriorated.
The present invention has been accomplished in view of the above mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an air conditioning apparatus for a vehicle, in which conditioned air having different states from each other pass through respective air passages divided by a partition plate and are simultaneously blown out from plural air outlets into a passenger compartment, capable of improving separation characteristics of airflows into the respective air passages.
According to the present invention, an air conditioning apparatus includes a case having an air passage therein, a heat exchanger, and a partition plate for partitioning the air passage into a first and a second air passage. The heat exchanger includes tubes and a fin, in which a main air passage is formed between each of adjacent tubes. A corrugated fin is disposed in each main air passage. Airflows respectively passing through the first air passage and the second air passage and having different phases such as temperature or humidity from each other pass in each main air passage without being mixed with each other. In the air conditioning apparatus, the partition plate is disposed generally parallel to the tube, and a length of said fin in an airflow direction being generally equal to that of said tube in said airflow direction. Accordingly, airflows which have passed through the first and the second air passages respectively flow into the heat exchanger and are not mixed each other in the heat exchanger, thereby improving the separation characteristics of airflows.
An end of the partition plates may be disposed so as to be opposite to an end of the tube.
Further, the partition plate may include two plates, in which one is disposed at an upstream air side of the heat exchanger and another is disposed at a downstream air side of the heat exchanger.
A thickness of a heat exchanger side end of the partition plate disposed at the upstream air side of the heat exchanger may be thicker than that of the other portion of the partition plate. As a result, the separation characteristics of the air currents are more improved.
A distance between the end of the partition plate and an end of the tube of the heat exchanger may be smaller than 10 mm. Accordingly, it is efficiently prevented that airflows which have passed through the fist and second air passages are mixed with each other at an opening between the partition plate and the tube.
Further, the case may be formed with an inside air inlet and an outside air inlet at the upstream air side of the heat exchanger, and the air passage is partitioned by the partition plate into an inside air passage through which the inside air sucked from the inside air inlet passes and an outside air passage through which the outside air sucked from the outside air inlet passes. Therefore, the inside air current and the outside airflows having different temperatures or humidities from each other respectively pass through the heat exchanger and flow into the air passages at the downstream air side of the heat exchanger without being mixed with each other.
The heat exchanger may be a heater core disposed at a downstream air side of an evaporator, for heating air cooled by the evaporator. Further, a door may be disposed between the evaporator and the heater core to adjust each amount of air flowing into the heater core to be heated in the heater core and air flowing so as to bypass the heater core. In this way, each temperature of airflows passing through the first and the second air passages can be independently adjusted.
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patent: 3250325 (1966-05-01), Rhodes et al.
patent: 4332293 (1982-06-01), Hiramatsu
patent: 4460036 (1984-07-01), Yoshimi et al.
patent: 4559994 (1985-12-01), Waldmann et al.
patent: 4615384 (1986-10-01), Shimada et al.
patent: 4940083 (1990-07-01), Takenaka et al.
patent: 4976309 (1990-12-01), Averin
patent: 5016704 (1991-05-01), Ono
patent: 5219017 (1993-06-01), Halstead et al.
patent: 5390728 (1995-02-01), Ban
patent: 662244 (1951-12-01), None
patent: 0051615 (1980-04-01), None
patent: 0122213 (1983-07-01), None
patent: A608105 (1985-01-01), None
Patent Abstracts of Japan, vol. 009, No. 121 (M-382), May 25, 1985 & JP 60 008105 A (Nippon Denso KK), Jan. 17, 1985.
Nonoyama Hiroshi
Shikata Kazushi
Suwa Kenji
Uemura Yukio
Denso Corporation
Ford John K.
Harness Dickey & Pierce PLC
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