Patent Publication Number: US-2023147139-A1

Title: Air conditioner for vehicle

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to an air conditioner for a vehicle, and more particularly, to an air conditioner for a vehicle which may have a smaller size by including an air conditioning module and a cooling module integrally formed with each other, and thus have increased space utilization in an engine room and further enhanced manufacturability. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     A typical air conditioner system for a vehicle may include the followings connected by a refrigerant pipe: a compressor compressing and delivering a refrigerant, a condenser condensing the high-pressure refrigerant delivered from the compressor, an expansion means throttling the refrigerant condensed and liquefied by the condenser, and an evaporator evaporating the low-pressure liquid refrigerant throttled by the expansion means by exchanging heat with air blown to a vehicle interior, to cool air discharged into the vehicle interior by using heat absorption by latent heat released when the refrigerant is evaporated, and the like. 
     The evaporator may be installed in an air conditioning case installed in the vehicle interior and serve to cool the interior. That is, the vehicle interior may be cooled when air blown by a blower is cooled by the latent heat which is released when the liquid refrigerant circulated in the evaporator is evaporated, while passing through the evaporator, and the cold air is discharged into the vehicle interior. 
     In addition, the vehicle interior may be heated using a heater core which is installed in the air conditioning case and in which an engine coolant is circulated, or an electric heating type heater installed in the air conditioning case. 
     Meanwhile, the condenser may be installed at a front portion of a vehicle to dissipate heat while exchanging heat with air. 
     In recent years, a heat pump system that performs air cooling and heating by using only a refrigeration cycle has been developed. As shown in  FIG.  1   , the heat pump system may include a cold air passage  11  and a hot air passage  12  which are partitioned in one air conditioning case  10 , an evaporator  4  for air cooling which is installed in the cold air passage  11  and a condenser  2  for air heating which is installed in the hot air passage  12 . Here, an air outlet  15  for supplying air to the vehicle interior and an air discharge  16  for discharging air to a vehicle exterior may be positioned at an outlet of the air conditioning case  10 . In addition, blowers  20  individually operated may respectively be installed at inlets of the cold air passage  11  and the hot air passage  12 . 
     Therefore, in an air cooling mode, cold air cooled while passing through the evaporator  4  of the cold air passage  11  may be discharged to the vehicle interior through the air outlet  15  to cool the interior. Here, hot air heated while passing through the condenser  2  of the hot air passage  12  may be discharged to the vehicle exterior through the air discharge  16 . 
     In an air heating mode, hot air heated while passing through the condenser  2  of the hot air passage  12  may be discharged to the vehicle interior through the air outlet  15  to heat the interior. Here, cold air cooled while passing through the evaporator  4  of the cold air passage  11  may be discharged to the vehicle exterior through the air discharge  16 . 
     However, in the prior art, the blowers  20  may respectively be positioned in the cold air passage  11  and the hot air passage  12 , air passing through the condenser  2  or the evaporator  4  may be required to be discharged through the air discharge based on an air cooling or heating setting, and the air discharge  16  equipped with a control door may thus be inevitably positioned in each of two places. Therefore, the heat pump system may inevitably have an increased overall size. 
     In addition, the condenser  2  installed in the air conditioning case may have a low condensing performance due to its inevitably small size. Therefore, the heat pump system may have a problem with its cooling performance. 
     Meanwhile, a front end module including a carrier, a cooling module and a headlamp may be positioned at a front portion of the vehicle. The cooling module may include a radiator, a condenser and a fan shroud, and heat may be exchanged between the radiator and the condenser through wind blown from the front portion of the vehicle. 
     Accordingly, required is a process for individually assembling the air conditioner and the cooling module to each other, and regions where the air conditioner is installed to actually perform air conditioning and the condenser of the cooling module is installed may be far away from each other, and may thus be connected to each other through a refrigerant line. 
     In recent years, a variety of new types of vehicles have been proposed, and in particular, there is an increasing demand for a method for effectively utilizing a space in an engine room. 
     Related Art Document 
     Patent Document 
     Patent Document 1: Korean Patent No. 10-1251206 (entitled, “AIR-CONDITIONER WITHOUT STARTING THE ENGINE FOR VEHICLE”) 
     DISCLOSURE 
     Technical Problem 
     An object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner for a vehicle which may have a smaller size by including an air conditioning module and a cooling module integrally formed with each other to have increased space utilization in an engine room and further enhanced manufacturability. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner for a vehicle in which exterior air introduced through an exterior air inlet may be supplied while being divided into air flowing to an air conditioning module and air flowing to a cooling module, and which may control flows of interior air and exterior air supplied to the air conditioning module by using an interior/exterior air controller. 
     Still another object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner for a vehicle in which an air conditioning module has a first region and a second region positioned parallel to each other to have increased space utility and smoothly air-condition a vehicle interior, the first region being provided for blowing air in a width direction and the second region being provided with an evaporator for air cooling and a heat exchanger for air heating. 
     Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner for a vehicle in which a cooling module is positioned in an entire region of an outer case (or all the first and second regions of an air conditioning module) in a width direction to sufficiently secure heat exchange performance of a radiator. 
     Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner for a vehicle in which a cooling module includes an exterior heat exchanger (i.e. condenser or variable heat exchanger) to minimize a refrigerant pipe, the exterior heat exchanger is positioned to correspond to a second region in a width direction while being adjacent and parallel to a radiator, and exterior air and engine-room air selectively pass through the air conditioner to have increased air cooling and heating efficiency. 
     Technical Solution 
     In one general aspect, an air conditioner  1000  for a vehicle includes: an air conditioning module M 1  for cooling and heating a vehicle interior; and a cooling module M 2  including a radiator  720  and a fan shroud  710  that forms a flow of air passing through the radiator  720 , wherein the air conditioning module M 1  and the cooling module M 2  are integrally formed with each other and positioned in a vehicle engine room. 
     In addition, the air conditioner  1000  for a vehicle may be configured of: an outer case  110  including a through exterior air inlet  210  for introducing exterior air into the air conditioning module M 1  and the cooling module M 2 , a through interior air inlet  220  for introducing interior air into the air conditioning module M 1 , and an air delivery part  240  for delivering air for cooling and heating the vehicle interior; and an inner case  120  partitioned from the outer case  110  to position the air conditioning module M 1  therein, and allows exterior air introduced through the exterior air inlet  210  to be divided into an air flow passing through the cooling module M 2  and an air flow passing through the air conditioning module M 1 . 
     In addition, in the air conditioner  1000  for a vehicle, the exterior air inlet  210  may be positioned in a lower side of the air conditioner in the height direction and simultaneously in one side of the air conditioner in the length direction, and exterior air introduced through the exterior air inlet  210  may pass through the cooling module M 2  to be discharged to the other side of the air conditioner in the length direction. 
     In addition, the air conditioning module M 1  may have a first region  101  and a second region  102  positioned parallel to each other in the width direction, the first region  101  being provided with an interior/exterior air controller  230  for selectively supplying exterior air introduced through the exterior air inlet  210  and interior air introduced through the interior air inlet  220 , and a blower  400  for blowing air to the air conditioning module M 1 ; and the second region  102  being provided with an evaporator  510  for air cooling and a heat exchanger  520  for air heating to exchange heat with air supplied from the first region  101  and then supply heat-exchanged air through the air delivery part  24 . 
     In addition, in the air conditioner  1000  for a vehicle, the interior air inlet  220  and the air delivery part  240  may be positioned on an upper side of the outer case  110  while being parallel to each other in the width direction. 
     In addition, the cooling module M 2  may be positioned in an entire region of the outer case  110  in the width direction. 
     In addition, the interior/exterior air controller  230  may include a through portion  210   a  which is a certain through region of the inner case  120  for introducing some of exterior air introduced through the exterior air inlet  210  into the first region  101 , the interior air inlet  220 , and a first control door  231  for controlling flows of exterior air and interior air respectively introduced through the through portion  210   a  and the interior air inlet  220 . 
     In addition, the air conditioning module M 1  may include a filter  300  positioned between the interior/exterior air controller  230  and the blower  400  in the first region  101 . 
     In addition, the cooling module M 2  may include an exterior heat exchanger  730 . 
     In addition, in the air conditioner  1000  for a vehicle, the exterior heat exchanger  730  may be positioned to correspond to the second region  102  in the width direction while being adjacent and parallel to the radiator  720 . 
     In addition, the exterior heat exchanger  730  may be mounted in the inner case  120  or the outer case  110 . 
     In addition, the air conditioner  1000  for a vehicle may include an engine-room air inlet  250  and a second control door  251  to control air supplied to the exterior heat exchanger  730 , the engine-room air inlet  250  introducing air inside the engine room; and the second control door  251  controlling flows of exterior air and engine-room air which are respectively introduced through the exterior air inlet  210  and the engine room air inlet  250 . 
     In addition, the air conditioner  1000  for a vehicle may further include an auxiliary heating heat exchanger  530  positioned at the rear of the heat exchanger  520  in an air flow direction. 
     In addition, in the air conditioner  1000  for a vehicle, the heat exchanger  520  may be positioned in a horizontal direction. 
     Advantageous Effects 
     As set forth above, the air conditioner for a vehicle according to the present invention may have a smaller size by including the air conditioning module and the cooling module integrally formed with each other to have the increased space utilization in the engine room and the further enhanced manufacturability. 
     In addition, in the air conditioner for a vehicle according to the present invention, the exterior air introduced through the exterior air inlet may be supplied while being divided into air flowing to the air conditioning module and air flowing to the cooling module, and the air conditioner may control the flows of the interior air and the exterior air supplied to the air conditioning module by using the interior/exterior air controller. 
     In addition, in the air conditioner for a vehicle according to the present invention, the air conditioning module has the first region and the second region positioned parallel to each other to have the increased space utility and smoothly air-condition the vehicle interior, the first region being provided for blowing air in a width direction and the second region being provided with the evaporator for air cooling and the heat exchanger for air heating. 
     In addition, in the air conditioner for a vehicle according to the present invention, the cooling module may be positioned in the entire region of the outer case (or all the first and second regions of the air conditioning module) in the width direction, and the air conditioner may thus sufficiently secure the heat exchange performance of the radiator. 
     In addition, in the air conditioner for a vehicle according to the present invention, the cooling module may include the exterior heat exchanger (i.e. condenser or variable heat exchanger) to minimize the refrigerant pipe, the exterior heat exchanger may be positioned to correspond to the second region in the width direction while being adjacent and parallel to the radiator, and the exterior air and the engine-room air may selectively pass through the air conditioner, and the air conditioner may thus have the increased air cooling and heating efficiency. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a view showing a prior vehicle heat pump system. 
         FIG.  2    is a perspective view of an air conditioner for a vehicle according to the present invention. 
         FIG.  3    is a transmission perspective view of the air conditioner for a vehicle according to the present invention. 
         FIGS.  4  and  5    are views respectively taken along direction AA′ and direction BB′ of the air conditioner for a vehicle according to the present invention. 
         FIG.  6    is a view showing flows of interior air and exterior air of the air conditioner for a vehicle according to the present invention. 
     
    
    
     BEST MODE 
     Hereinafter, an air conditioner  1000  for a vehicle, having the configuration as described above will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
       FIG.  2    is a perspective view of the air conditioner  1000  for a vehicle according to the present invention;  FIG.  3    is a transmission perspective view of the air conditioner  1000  for a vehicle according to the present invention;  FIGS.  4  and  5    are views respectively taken along direction AA′ and direction BB′ of the air conditioner  1000  for a vehicle according to the present invention; and  FIG.  6    is a view showing flows of interior air and exterior air of the air conditioner for a vehicle according to the present invention. 
     In the air conditioner  1000  for a vehicle of the present invention, an air conditioning module M 1  and a cooling module M 2  may be integrally formed with each other and positioned in a vehicle engine room. 
     First, the air conditioning module M 1  may be a component for cooling and heating a vehicle interior, and the cooling module M 2  may be a component including a radiator  720  and a fan shroud  710  that forms a flow of air passing through the radiator  720 . Accordingly, the air conditioner  1000  for a vehicle of the present invention may not require a process or space for separately mounting the cooling module M 2  because the cooling module M 2 , which is supposed to be conventionally positioned at a front portion of the vehicle, may be mounted on the air conditioner together with the air conditioning module M 1  integrally formed therewith. 
     In the radiator  720 , a coolant for cooling an engine may flow, and a coolant for cooling various electronic components positioned in the engine room may flow. 
     In more detail, the air conditioner  1000  for a vehicle of the present invention may be configured of an outer case  110  and an inner case  120 . 
     The outer case  110  may be an external basic body of the air conditioner  1000   for a vehicle, and include an exterior air inlet  210 , an interior air inlet  220  and an air delivery part  240 . 
     The exterior air inlet  210  may be a space which is a certain through region of the outer case  110  for introducing exterior air, and air introduced through the exterior air inlet  210  may be supplied to the air conditioning module M 1  and the cooling module M 2 . 
     The interior air inlet  220  may be a space in which a certain through region of the outer case  110  for introducing interior air, and the interior air may be introduced into the air conditioning module M 1 . 
     Here, the exterior air inlet  210  may be positioned on a lower side of the air conditioner in the height direction. Exterior air may thus be introduced into the outer case  110  while being delivered in the length direction, some of exterior air may pass through the cooling module M 2 , and the rest may be selectively supplied to the air conditioning module M 1 . That is, in the cooling module M 2 , exterior air may be introduced into a region between the outer case  110  and the inner case  120  by the exterior air inlet  210  positioned in the lower side of the air conditioner in the height direction and simultaneously in one side thereof in the length direction, and pass through the cooling module M 2  to be discharged to the other side of the air conditioner in the length direction. In other words, exterior air introduced through the exterior air inlet  210  may pass by an operation of the fan shroud  710  to exchange heat with the coolant in the radiator  720 . 
     (In  FIG.  6   , a flow of the exterior air is indicated by a solid arrow, and a flow of the interior air is indicated by a dotted arrow). 
     The cooling module M 2  may be positioned in an entire region of the outer case  110  in the width direction to sufficiently secure heat exchange performance of the radiator  720 . To this end, the exterior air inlet  210  may also be positioned long in the width direction. 
     Here, the air conditioning module M 1  may be used by introducing exterior air introduced through the exterior air inlet  210  thereinto. That is, the air conditioning module M 1  may cool or heat the interior by exchanging heat with exterior air or interior air each introduced through the exterior air inlet  210  or the interior air inlet  220 . The flows of exterior air and interior air which are introduced into the air conditioning module M 1  may be controlled by an interior/exterior air controller  230 , and a specific configuration thereof is described again below. 
     The air delivery part  240  may be a certain through region of the outer case  110  for delivering air heat-exchanged in the air conditioning module M 1  (or air for cooling the vehicle interior). 
     Here, the interior air inlet  220  and the air delivery part  240  may be positioned in an upper side of the outer case  110  while being parallel to each other in the width direction. 
     The inner case  120  may be a space partitioned from the outer case  110  to position the air conditioning module M 1  therein, and in which components for allowing air to be introduced into the air conditioning module M 1 , an evaporator  510  for air cooling, a heat exchanger  520  for air heating, and the like may be built. 
     That is, the air conditioning module M 1  positioned in the inner case  120  may have a first region  101  and a second region  102  positioned parallel to each other in the width direction. 
     The first region  101  may be provided with an interior/exterior air controller  230  and a blower  400  to introduce exterior air or interior air into the air conditioning module M 1 . 
     The interior/exterior air controller  230  may include a through portion  210   a  which is a certain through region of the inner case  120  for introducing some of exterior air introduced through the exterior air inlet  210  into the first region  101 , the interior air inlet  220 , and a first control door  231  for controlling the flows of exterior air and interior air respectively introduced through the through portion  210   a  and the interior air inlet  220 . 
     In the air conditioner  1000  for a vehicle, exterior air may pass through the cooling module M 2  by being delivered from one side to the other side of a portion where the first region  101  is positioned in the length direction through the exterior air inlet  210  which is positioned below the inner case  120 , i.e. in a region between the inner case  120  and the outer case  110 . Some of exterior air may then be supplied into the first region  101  of the air conditioning module M 1  through the through portion  210   a  by an operation of the first control door  231  of the interior/exterior air controller  230 . 
     The blower  400  may introduce exterior air or interior air into the air conditioning module M 1 . 
     In addition, the air conditioning module M 1  may include a filter  300  positioned between the interior/exterior air controller  230  and the blower  400  of the first region  101 , and the filter  300  may have a form enabling the filter to be replaced, a form enabling the filter to electrically collect dust or the like, and is not limited to any particular form. 
     The second region  102  may be provided with an evaporator  510  for air cooling and a heat exchanger  520  for air heating to exchange heat with air supplied from the first region  101  and then supply heat-exchanged air through the air delivery part  240 . 
     The evaporator  510  may cool air discharged to the vehicle interior through the air delivery part  240 . Here, when the air cooling is performed, a refrigerant in a wet state of low temperature and low pressure may be supplied to the evaporator  510 , and air may be cooled while passing through the evaporator  510  to be discharged to the vehicle interior. On the other hand, when the air heating is performed, the refrigerant may not be supplied to the evaporator  510 , such that even though air passes through the evaporator  510 , a temperature may not be changed. 
     The heat exchanger  520  may heat air discharged to the vehicle interior through the air delivery part  240 . Here, the heat exchanger  520  may be a heater core to which a heated coolant is supplied, or may be the interior heat exchanger  520  of a heat pump system. 
     Here, the second region  102  may further be provided with a temp door  540  that determines whether air-conditioning air passing through the evaporator  510  passes through the heat exchanger  520 . 
     The heat exchanger  520  may be positioned in a horizontal direction. The horizontal direction may refer to a direction perpendicular to the height direction, and the above-described space into which exterior air is introduced may be positioned outside and below the inner case  120 , and the cooling module M 2  may be positioned below the space to reduce an overall size of the air conditioner. Here, in the cooling module M 2 , the radiator  720  and the fan shroud  710  may be positioned below the heat exchanger  520  in consideration of a size of the radiator  720  or the like, and may each be positioned to have one side inclined downward in the horizontal direction. 
     The air conditioner  1000  for a vehicle of the present invention may further include an auxiliary heating heat exchanger  530  positioned at the rear of the heat exchanger  520  in the air flow direction. The auxiliary heating heat exchanger  530  may be a component performing the air heating together with the heat exchanger  520 , and use various types including a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) heating means. The auxiliary heating heat exchanger  530  may also be positioned in the horizontal direction like the heat exchanger  520 , and may be positioned above and parallel to the heat exchanger  520  positioned at a rear portion of the air conditioner in the air flow direction. 
     In the air conditioner  1000  for a vehicle of the present invention, the cooling module M 2  may further include an exterior heat exchanger  730 . 
     In the present invention, the exterior heat exchanger  730  may refer to another heat exchanger  520  positioned outside the inner case  120 , and may be a condenser for the air cooling performed by the evaporator  510  while the refrigerant sequentially passes through the compressor, the condenser, the expansion means, and then the evaporator  510 . 
     Alternatively, the exterior heat exchanger  730  may be a variable heat exchanger  520  whose role in the heat pump system is variable. The variable exterior heat exchanger  730  may not be a component for cooling or heating air for the actual cooling and heating, and may condense the refrigerant supplied to the evaporator  510  based on an air cooling setting, or evaporate the refrigerant supplied to the heat exchanger  520  based on an air heating setting. 
     The exterior heat exchanger  730  may be positioned in a lower region of the air conditioner while being adjacent and parallel to the radiator  720 , and positioned to correspond to the second region  102 , where the blower  400  having a relatively large size is not positioned. That is, the exterior heat exchanger  730  may be positioned below the inner case  120 , and may also be mounted in the header tank of the radiator  720  or the fan shroud  710  of the cooling module M 2 , as in the prior art, or may be mounted in the inner case  120  or the outer case  110 . In  FIG.  5   , the exterior heat exchanger  730  may have an upper side supported by the inner case  120  and a lower side mounted in and supported by the outer case  110 , and may be positioned in more various other ways. 
     When including the exterior heat exchanger  730  positioned therein, the air conditioner may include an engine-room air inlet  250 , and a second control door  251  for controlling flows of exterior air and engine-room air which are respectively introduced through the exterior air inlet  210  and the engine room air inlet  250  so that air inside the engine room selectively passes through the exterior heat exchanger  730  and the radiator  720  sequentially. 
     The engine-room air inlet  250  may be adjacent to the exterior air inlet  210  of the second region  102  and a through portion for introducing engine-room air thereinto, and the second control door  251  may selectively control an opening degree of the engine room air inlet  250  and the exterior air inlet  210 . 
     That is, the exterior air inlet  210  may be positioned over the first region  101  and the second region  102  to be long in the width direction. When supplied, exterior air introduced through the exterior air inlet  210  positioned to correspond to the first region  101  may be supplied to the cooling module M 2  or the air conditioning module M 1 , and exterior air selectively introduced through the exterior air inlet  210  positioned to correspond to the second region  102  may pass through the exterior heat exchanger  730  and the radiator  720  sequentially. 
     In particular, in the winter when the exterior temperature is low, air inside the engine room may be heated by operations of various electronic components and maintain a temperature higher than the exterior temperature. As such, the engine-room air inlet  250  and the second control door  251  may be positioned in the air conditioner  1000  for a vehicle of the present invention and supply air inside the engine room into the outer case  110  to increase evaporation performance (or heat absorption amount) of the exterior heat exchanger  730 , thus further increasing the air heating performance of the heat exchanger  520 . 
     As described above, the air conditioner  1000  for a vehicle of the present invention may have a smaller size by including the air conditioning module M 1  and the cooling module M 2  integrally formed with each other, have further enhanced manufacturability, smoothly air-condition the vehicle interior, and easily cool the electronic components and the like. 
     The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and may be variously applied. In addition, the present invention may be variously modified by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains without departing from the gist of the present invention claimed in the claims. 
     DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS 
       1000 : air conditioner for vehicle,  101 : first region,  102 : second region,
       110 : outer case,  120 : inner case, M 1 : air conditioning module,     210 : exterior air inlet,  210   a : through portion, 220 : interior air inlet,     230 : interior/exterior air controller,  231 : first control door,  240 : air delivery part,     250 : engine-room air inlet,  251 : second control door,  300 : filter,     400 : blower,  510 : evaporator,  520 : heat exchanger,     530 : auxiliary heating heat exchanger,  540 : temp door, M 2 : cooling module,     710 : fan shroud,  720 : radiator,  730 : exterior heat exchanger