Vehicle air-conditioning system

Details Vehicle air-conditioning system Vehicle air-conditioning system

2003-04-10

2004-06-15

Tapolcai, William E. (Department: 3744)

Heat exchange

With vehicle feature

Heating and cooling

C062S244000, C237S01230B, C454S121000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06749008

ABSTRACT:

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is based upon, claims the benefit of priority of, and incorporates by reference the contents of prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-109301 filed Apr. 11, 2002.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle air-conditioning system interior unit in which an interior dimension, with respect to a cross direction of the vehicle, is reduced.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-150923 discloses a conventional interior unit for a vehicle air-conditioning system, which integrates a blower unit as well as a cooling heat exchanger and a heating heat exchanger into a single casing.
In this prior art, a cooling heat exchanger is disposed below a blower unit, then a heating heat exchanger is disposed behind this cooling heat exchanger in a rearward direction of a vehicle, and an air mix door is disposed above this heating heat exchanger. In addition, a face passage for leading air into a face opening and a defroster opening is disposed in a position behind the blower unit in the rearward direction of the vehicle and above the air mix door. Moreover, further behind a warm air passage positioned behind the heating heat exchanger, a foot passage is independently disposed in the rearward direction of the vehicle.
Therefore, in the prior art, the cooling heat exchanger and the heating heat exchanger are disposed in series within the interior unit in the cross direction of the vehicle, that is in a left to right direction. In addition, the foot passage is independently disposed further behind the warm air passage located on the back of the heating heat exchanger in the rearward direction of the vehicle. As a result, the dimension of the interior unit in the cross direction of the vehicle is substantially increased.
Meanwhile, space availability is limited with respect to the cross direction of the vehicle in an area inside an instrument panel where the interior unit is installed. Therefore, installability of the interior unit is substantially deteriorated by an increase in the dimension of the interior unit in the cross direction of the vehicle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In consideration of the foregoing problem, an object of the present invention is to reduce the cross dimensional dimension of such an interior unit to ease installation in a vehicle.
To attain the object, a first aspect of the present invention exhibits a vehicle air-conditioning system that includes a casing (
11
) configured to define air passages for sending air to a vehicle compartment and having a face opening (
22
) disposed in an upper part of the casing (
11
). Additionally, this aspect of the invention includes a heating heat exchanger (
14
) disposed inside the casing (
11
) and configured to heat the air, a face passage (
24
) formed above the heating heat exchanger (
14
) inside the casing (
11
) and configured to lead the air being temperature-conditioned by passage through the heating heat exchanger (
14
) toward the face opening (
22
), and a foot passage (
27
) formed above the heating heat exchanger (
14
) inside the casing (
11
) to protrude from a rear face (
11
a
) of the casing (
11
) toward the face passage (
24
) and configured to extend in a vehicle's width direction. Continuing, the foot passage (
27
) has a foot opening (
27
a
) disposed in a region of the foot passage (
27
) close to the face passage (
24
). A foot door (
28
) is disposed to rotate inside the face passage (
24
) and configured to open and close the foot opening (
27
a
). Here, the air being temperature-conditioned by passage through the heating heat exchanger (
14
) flows from the foot opening (
27
a
) into the foot passage (
27
) when the foot opening (
27
a
) is opened by the foot door (
28
), and blows out of both right and left side portions, in a width direction of the vehicle, of the foot passage (
27
) toward the feet of any passengers.
According to this aspect, the foot door (
28
) is disposed inside the face passage (
24
), and the foot passage (
27
) is formed above the heating heat exchanger (
14
) so as to protrude toward the face passage (
24
). Therefore the air, after passage through the heating heat exchanger, further passes through the foot opening (
27
a
) and the foot passage (
27
) and then blows out of the right and left side portions of the foot passage (
27
) directly toward the feet of any passengers.
Accordingly, it is not necessary to dispose the foot passage (
27
) further behind the rear face (
11
a
) of the casing (
11
) in the rearward direction of the vehicle, and it is thereby possible to downsize the dimension of the interior unit with respect to the width of the vehicle in comparison with the prior art.
A second aspect of the present invention is the vehicle air-conditioning system of the first aspect, in which a blower unit (
12
) for blowing air is disposed in front of the face passage (
24
), with respect to the cross direction of the vehicle, and inside the casing (
11
). In this way, the interior unit (
10
) which is configured to dispose the blower unit (
12
) integrally inside the casing (
11
) undergoes a downsizing effect with respect to a dimension in the cross direction of the vehicle.
A third aspect of the present invention is the vehicle air-conditioning system of the second aspect, in which the blower unit (
12
) is disposed above and in front of the face passage (
24
), with respect to the cross direction of the vehicle, and inside the casing (
11
). Additionally, a cooling heat exchanger (
13
), configured to cool down the air sent from the blower unit (
12
), is disposed below the blower unit (
12
), and the heating heat exchanger (
14
) is disposed behind the cooling heat exchanger (
13
) with respect to the cross direction of the vehicle. In this way, the interior unit (
10
) which is configured to integrally contain all of the blower unit (
12
), the cooling heat exchanger (
13
), and the heating heat exchanger (
14
) inside the casing (
11
), has a downsizing effect with respect to a cross direction dimension, that is, the width, of the vehicle.
A fourth aspect of the present invention is the vehicle air-conditioning system of any one of the first to third aspects in which the foot door (
28
) is a butterfly door that includes a rotating shaft (
28
a
), and a first plate door (
28
b
) and a second plate door (
28
c
) are integrally bonded to both sides in a diametrical direction of the rotating shaft (
28
a
). According to this aspect, forces and pressure due to wind acting on the first plate door (
28
b
) and the second plate door (
28
c
) simultaneously act as a reverse rotating force while applying the rotating shaft (
28
a
) as a pivot, so that the forces attributable to the wind pressure onto the first and second plate doors (
28
b
,
28
c
) counterbalance each other. As a result, it is possible to reduce a control force of the foot door (
28
).
A fifth aspect of the present invention is the vehicle air-conditioning system of the fourth aspect, in which an air mix door (
16
) is disposed between the heating heat exchanger (
14
) and the butterfly door (
28
) in a vertical direction inside the casing (
11
). Here, a proportion of air quantities between warm air passing through the heating heat exchanger (
14
) and cool air bypassing the heating heat exchanger (
14
) is adjusted by the air mix door (
16
) to control the temperature of air blowing into the compartment. Moreover, the first plate door (
28
b
) separates air in a warm air region from air in a cool air region when the butterfly door (
28
) is set to a halfway open position, and leads the air in the warm air region toward the foot passage (
27
) and the air in the cool air region toward the face passage (
24
). Furthermore, an auxiliary passage (
30
) is formed close to a tip of the second plate door (
28
c
) such that the air in the warm air region being led to the foot passage (
27
) is partially divided and directed toward the face passage (
24
).
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