Refrigeration – With vehicle feature – Occupant-type vehicle
Reexamination Certificate
2002-07-24
2003-05-27
Tapolcai, William E. (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
With vehicle feature
Occupant-type vehicle
C165S042000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06568200
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air conditioning system for a vehicle, and in particular to an air conditioning system mountable in the rear of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
A vehicle air conditioning system is mounted within the front of a vehicle, more particularly, within an instrumental panel.
Recently, an air conditioning system has been developed which comprises an integral unit including an evaporator and a heater core. The evaporator is a heat exchanger providing a cooling capability and the heater core is a heat exchanger providing a heating capability. Thereby, the system provides an improved space availability in the lower area or the foot area of a passenger compartment and also a reduction of the manufacturing cost.
Examples of the vehicle air conditioning system of the type having the integrated evaporator and heater core unit are disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication Nos. 10-250344 and 10-250345.
The conventional air conditioning system disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 10-250345 will be explained with reference to
FIG. 8. A
conventional air conditioning system
50
includes a casing
50
. In the casing
50
, there are mounted an air inlet
54
for receiving intake air from the front portion of the vehicle and introducing the air into the system, an evaporator
56
for refrigerating or cooling the introduced air, and a heater core
58
located at the rear under side of the evaporator for heating the cooled air from the evaporator
56
. A partition plate
60
is mounted at the rear portion of the heater core
58
in the casing
52
. The partition plate
60
guides the air heated by the heater core
58
to a mixing area
62
located at the upper portion of the casing
52
where the heated air is mixed with the air cooled by the evaporator
56
.
At the rear portion of the evaporator
56
, there are provided a first damper
63
for controlling the rate of the air bypassing the heater core
58
, and a second damper
76
for controlling the rate of the air flowing through the heater core
58
. Thus, the rates of the cooled air and the heated air can be controlled. A foot passage
66
is provided between the partition plate
60
and a rear wall
52
a
of the casing
52
.
A vent outlet
68
is provided near the mixing area
62
at the upper portion of the casing
52
, a defrosting outlet
70
is provided in front of the vent outlet
68
, and a foot outlet
72
is provided at the rear lower portion of the casing
52
. These outlets
68
,
70
and
72
are respectively provided with a vent damper
74
, a defrosting damper
76
and a foot damper
78
.
The conventional air conditioning system explained above controls openings of the five dampers
63
,
64
,
74
,
76
and
78
so as to provide various modes such as a vent mode, a vent and foot mode, a foot mode, a foot and defrosting mode and a defrosting mode. The air having a desired temperature is discharged from the vent outlet
68
, the defrosting outlet
70
and/or the foot outlet
72
.
On the other hand, the air conditioning system for a vehicle requires, based on the functions of the outlets and comfortability of passengers, a relationship in which [air temperature of defrosting outlet (T
def
)]>[air temperature of foot outlet (T
foot
)]>[air temperature of vent outlet (T
vent
)].
However, in the conventional air conditioning system
50
of
FIG. 8
, the defrosting outlet
76
, the vent outlet
68
and the foot outlet
72
are provided along the casing
52
in turn from the evaporator
56
in the downstream area of the evaporator
53
. Namely, the defrosting outlet
76
is the nearest of the these three outlets to the evaporator
56
, the foot outlet
72
is the farthest from the evaporator
56
and the vent outlet
68
is located between the defrosting outlet
70
and the foot outlet
72
.
Thus, the conventional air conditioning system
50
naturally has a relationship in which [air temperature of foot outlet (T
foot
)]>[air temperature of vent outlet (T
vent
)]>[air temperature of defrosting outlet (T
def
)]. This relationship of the conventional air conditioning system
50
is different from the above-mentioned desired relationship required in the air conditioning system.
In order to overcome this problem and obtain the above-mentioned desired relationship, another type of conventional air conditioning system provided with a larger mixing area and additional unique dampers was developed. However, this type of conventional air conditioning has more complicated structure and a larger size than the previously described one.
Further, the conventional air conditioning system
50
of
FIG. 8
has at least three dampers, such as the vent damper
74
, the defrosting damper
76
and the foot damper
78
, so as to produce various modes. Therefore, if the number of such movable components could be reduced, the reliability of the air conditioning system can be increased.
FIG. 9
is a partial plan view showing the evaporator
56
and the air inlet
54
of the conventional air conditioning system
50
of FIG.
8
. As shown in
FIG. 9
, the air taken from the air inlet
54
is introduced into the evaporator
56
through a passage
54
a
having a uniform cross section. Therefore, the air flow is concentrated at the downstream side of the passage
54
a
, and the concentrated air flow is introduced into the evaporator
56
as shown by a symbol “A” in FIG.
9
. As a result, the evaporator
56
can not attain its full cooling capability and problems may arise, such that dew is scattered due to the concentrated air flow and the air rates introduced into the right and left sides of the evaporator become different.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an air conditioning system for a vehicle having a simple structure and a desired relationship of air temperatures in respective air outlets.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an air conditioning system for a vehicle wherein the number of movable components is reduced so as to increase the liability thereof
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an air conditioning system for a vehicle wherein air discharged from a blower flows uniformly into an evaporator so as to attain a high cooling capability.
The above objects are achieved according to the present invention by providing an air conditioning system comprising a casing, an evaporator mounted substantially in an upright position at a front portion within the casing, a heater core mounted substantially in an upright position at a rear side of the evaporator, a mixing area located at a rear side of the evaporator and an upper side of the heater core for mixing a first air bypassing the heater core with a second air flowing through the heater core, a partition plate for guiding the second air to the mixing area after the second air flows through the heater core, a foot passage defined by a rear portion of the casing and the partition plate, a defrosting passage communicating with a lower end of the foot passage and being provided along an outer surface of the casing, a vent outlet provided at a portion near the mixing area of the casing, a defrosting outlet provided at an upper end of the defrosting passage, a temperature controlling damper for controlling rates of the first air bypassing the heater core and the second air flowing through the heater core after the first and second airs flow through the evaporator so as to attain a predetermined final temperature of the air which is discharged into a passenger compartment of the vehicle, a vent damper for opening and closing the vent outlet, a foot damper for opening and closing the foot outlet, and a defrosting damper for opening and closing the defrosting outlet.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the foot damper and the defrosting damper are a foot and defrosting damper for opening and closing bo
Futatsuki Masanobu
Ishii Kazuo
Izumi Hajime
Kondo Toshihisa
Nakagawa Nobuya
Ali Mohammad M.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.
Oblon & Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt P.C.
Tapolcai William E.
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