Heat exchange – With timer – programmer – time delay – or condition responsive... – Having heating and cooling capability
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-03
2002-08-13
Ciric, Ljiljana (Department: 3743)
Heat exchange
With timer, programmer, time delay, or condition responsive...
Having heating and cooling capability
C165S042000, C454S121000, C074S089180
Reexamination Certificate
active
06431266
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a door plate driving mechanism of an air conditioning system for an automobile, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a door plate driving mechanism for an air conditioning system of an automobile, which has an improved structure for accomplishing selectively interlocked operations of a plurality of door plates which are rotatably secured to an air conditioning case and disposed in an air conditioning path to control air flow into a passenger compartment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, an air conditioning system for an automobile has an air conditioning case which is disposed behind an engine room. The air conditioning case is made of injection molded plastic, etc. and defines a part of an air conditioning path. In the air conditioning case, there are disposed a plurality of operating elements including a blower fan, an evaporator and a heater. A plurality of door plates are also disposed in the air conditioning case to selectively control opening and closing of a plurality of conduits which serve to supply air conditioned by the plurality of operating elements to various regions of a passenger compartment.
Each of the plurality of door plates has a rectangular plate-shaped configuration and is rotatably secured to the air conditioning case by a hinge shaft so that it can open and close a corresponding conduit. A plurality of driving levers are securely fixed to one end of the hinge shafts, respectively, which project out of the air conditioning case. The driving levers having various configurations and sizes, respectively, are rotated by a vacuum actuator, a motor actuator or the like. When driving levers selected relying upon an air conditioning mode are rotated by the actuator, corresponding door plates are also integrally rotated therewith to open or close corresponding conduits.
It is preferred that the plurality of door plates disposed in the air conditioning path are driven by one actuating means such as the motor actuator, to simplify the structure and reduce manufacturing cost of the air conditioning system. In this connection, various door plate driving mechanisms for selectively driving the plurality of door plates using one actuating means, are disclosed in the art.
In an exemplary door plate driving mechanism of the prior art, a plurality of driving levers are securely fixed to hinge shafts of a plurality of door plates, respectively. Each of the driving levers is formed with an upright pin, and a driving plate is arranged above the driving levers. The driving plate is formed with a plurality of guide grooves into which the upright pins of the driving levers are inserted, respectively. The driving plate is connected to an actuator means, and the plurality of guide grooves incorporate pivoting routes of the plurality of driving levers, respectively. If the driving plate is rotated by the actuator means, the driving levers are rotated around the hinge shafts, respectively, to control driving modes of the plurality of door plates.
In another door plate driving mechanism of the prior art, a plurality of driving levers securely fixed to hinge shafts of a plurality of door plates, respectively, are connected through a plurality of articulated links to a driving plate to drive the plurality of door plates in a selectively interlocked manner relying upon an air conditioning mode.
However, the door plate driving mechanisms of the prior art have deficiencies as described below:
(1) Since the structure of the door driving mechanism of the prior art has a number of the components, manufacturing cost is increased.
(2) The hinge shafts of the respective door plates, driving levers securely fixed to the hinge shafts, and driving plate connected directly or via the plurality of articulated links to the driving levers have kinematic limits in their operations, whereby noise is generated. Further, geometrical critical points on which operations of the components cannot be properly controlled, exist in the door plate driving mechanism.
(3) Since the plurality of driving levers are simultaneously operated, driving force generated by the actuator must be fairly large.
(4) Since the plurality of components are interconnected one to another, tolerances in manufacturing the components and allowances in assembling the components become smaller. For this reason, assembling time is lengthened, assembling errors occur frequently, and difficulties arise in A/S.
Hereinafter, a door plate driving mechanism according to the prior art will be described in detail with reference to
FIGS. 1 through 5
.
First, referring to
FIG. 1
, there is shown a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a construction of an air conditioning system for an automobile. An air conditioning path
1
defined by a plurality of air conditioning cases
10
includes a blower fan
2
, an evaporator
3
, a heater
4
and a plurality of door plates as being operating doors. A heater door plate HT for controlling discharge of air which is passed through the heater
4
, a vent door plate VT for controlling discharge of air toward a driver seat, and a defrost door plate DF opened under a defrosting mode, are integrally assembled onto a selected plane of one air conditioning case
10
. The drawing reference numeral
5
represents a temperature-adjusting door plate.
Accordingly, the heater door plate HT, vent door plate VT and defrost door plate DF which constitute the plurality of door plates, are rotatably secured to the air conditioning case by hinge shafts, respectively. The air conditioning case is made of injection molded plastic and has a box-shaped configuration. While the plurality of door plates are driven by a vacuum actuator or a motor actuator, it is important that the plurality of door plates are designed such that they are smoothly driven in selectively interlocked manners by an actuator having a capacity as low as possible. This is because the air conditioning case
10
is not large in its size and the number of components must be as small as possible in view of manufacturing cost and controllability thereof.
For this purpose, door plate driving mechanisms for driving the plurality of door plates using one actuating means, are disclosed in the art. An example of the door plate driving mechanisms is illustrated in
FIGS. 2 through 5
. Referring to
FIG. 2
, there is shown a perspective view illustrating an air conditioning case on which a door plate driving mechanism of the prior art is mounted.
FIG. 3A
is a perspective view showing an independent appearance of a driving plate used in the door plate driving mechanism of FIG.
2
.
The plurality of door plates are selectively operated while they are interlocked with a driving plate. In one example, driving modes of each door plate are given as described in Table 1, relying upon an air conditioning mode.
To be operated under the exemplary driving modes given in Table 1, the vent door plate VT, defrost door plate DF and heater door plate HT are rotatably secured to the air conditioning case
10
by the respective hinge shafts
11
,
12
and
13
. Driving levers
21
,
22
and
23
are securely fixed to one end of the hinge shafts
11
,
12
and
13
, respectively, which project out of the air conditioning case
10
.
TABLE 1
Air Conditioning Modes
Opening
Degree of
BI-
Door Plates
VENT
LEVEL
HEATER
HTR/DEF
DEF
Vent Door Plate
1
½
0
0
0
(VT)
Defrost Door Plate
0
0
0
½
1
(DE)
Heater Door Plate
0
½
1
½
0
(HT)
Remarks: 0 Closed, ½: Half-opened or closed, 1: Opened
Three intermediate levers
31
,
32
and
33
are also rotatably secured to the plane of the air conditioning case
10
adjacent to the driving levers
21
,
22
and
23
, respectively. The intermediate levers
31
,
32
and
33
are meshed with the driving levers
21
,
22
and
23
, respectively, and are formed with three upright pins
41
,
42
and
43
, respectively. By the fact that the upright engaging pins
41
,
42
and
43
are inserted into
Ciric Ljiljana
Daewoo Automotive Components, Ltd.
Jacobson & Holman PLLC
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