Patent ID: 6145754
Filing Date: 2000-11-14
Classification: B60H

Abstract:
An air conditioner for a vehicle having a passenger compartment, comprising:an air conditioning case in which a first inside air suction port and an outside air suction port are formed on one end side and a foot opening portion for blowing out an air toward feet of a passenger within said passenger compartment and a defroster opening portion for blowing out the air toward an inner surface of a windshield of said vehicle are formed on the other end side thereof;a partitioning member for partitioning an interior of said air conditioning case into a first air passage extending from said first inside air suction port to said foot opening portion and a second air passage extending from said outside air suction port to said defroster opening portion;an air blower for generating air flow in said first and second air passages in a direction from the one end side to the other end side of said air conditioning case;a heating heat exchanger provided in said first and said second air passages, for heating the air in said first and second air passages;first heating amount adjusting means for adjusting a heating amount of the air in said first air passage by said heating heat exchanger;second heating amount adjusting means for adjusting a heating amount of the air in said second air passage by said heating heat exchanger, said heating amount by said second heating amount adjusting means being controlled to be equal to said heating amount by said first heating amount adjusting means; andmaximum heating state detecting means for detecting that both of said first heating amount adjusting means and said second heating amount adjusting means are in the maximum heating states where each heating amount is substantially maximized; wherein,when said maximum heating state detecting means has detected said maximum heating state, the inside air from said first inside air suction port is introduced into said first air passage and the outside air from said outside air suction port is introduced into said second air passage, andwhen said maximum heating state detecting means has not yet detected the maximum heating state, the outside air from said outside air suction port is introduced into said first and second air passages.