Patent ID: 6789607
Filing Date: 2004-09-14
Classification: B60H,Y10T

Abstract:
An air distribution apparatus for a vehicle comprising:a housing; a blower mounted in the housing in communication with an inlet in the housing and an outlet; a plenum formed within the housing, the plenum having an inlet for receiving air discharged from the outlet of the blower; a partition seperate from the housing, the partition mounted within the housing so as to span opposing sidewalls of said casing and communicating with the plenum, the partition separating the air flow through the plenum into first and second separate airstreams, each having a first flow direction parallel to one another; an interior wall disposed within the housing and communication with the plenum, the wall disposed at an angle relative to the partition and separating the first airstream into third and fourth sub-streams and the second airstream into fifth and sixth sub-streams; a heater element disposed within the housing downstream of the plenum for heating air discharged from the plenum, the heater element disposed in each of the first and second airstreams through a gap in the partition; movable blend members, mounted in the housing and movable between positions, to determine the volume of air of each of the first and second airstreams which bypasses the heater element and the volume of air in the first and second airstreams which flows through the heater element to be discharged into the first and second airstreams as heated air; the partition defining a shaped non-planar single wall surface redirecting the first and second airstreams from the first flow direction generally parallel to one another and to the housing to a second flow direction generally parallel to one another, where the second flow direction is angularly disposed from the first flow direction by an angle corresponding to a directional change in said housing; and ducts fluidly connected to the housing for selectively receiving the first and second airstreams and for selectively discharging the first and second airstreams into separate regions of the vehicle interior, respectively.