Patent Publication Number: US-2018043750-A1

Title: Vehicular air conditioning device

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to a vehicular air conditioning device, and more particularly, to a vehicular air conditioning device, wherein a partition wall for partitioning an air passage inside an air conditioning case is formed separately from the air conditioning case and is detachably assembled to left and right cases. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     In general, an air conditioner for a vehicle is a car part, which is installed in a vehicle for the purpose of cooling or heating the interior of the vehicle in the summer season or the winter season or removing frost from a windshield in the rainy season or the winter season to thereby secure a driver&#39;s front and rear visual fields. Such an air conditioner typically includes a heating device and a cooling device together, so that it can heat, cool or ventilate the interior of the vehicle through the steps of selectively introducing the indoor air or the outdoor air into the air conditioner, heating or cooling the introduced air, and blowing the heated or cooled air into the vehicle. 
     According to mounted structures of an air blower unit, an evaporator unit and a heater core unit, such an air conditioner is classified into a three-piece type air conditioner where the air blower unit, the evaporator unit, and the heater core unit are disposed independently, a semi-center type air conditioner where the evaporator unit and the heater core unit are embedded in an air conditioning case and the air blower unit is mounted separately, and a center-mounting type air conditioner where the three units are all embedded in the air conditioning case. 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional air conditioner for a vehicle, and  FIG. 2  is a sectional view showing a state where partition walls of left and right cases in  FIG. 1  are combined. 
     As shown in the drawings, the conventional air conditioner for a vehicle includes: an air conditioning case  20 , which has an air inflow port  27  formed at one side thereof, a plurality of air outflow ports  28 , such as a defrost vent  21 , a face vent  22  and a floor vent  23 , formed at the other side thereof, and an air passage formed inside the air conditioning case  20  to communicate the air outflow ports  28  with the air inflow port  27 ; an evaporator  2  and a heater core  3  that are mounted on the air passage in order and spaced apart from each other at a predetermined interval; and an air blower (not shown) mounted at the air inflow port  27  of the air conditioning case  20 . 
     Moreover, a temperature adjusting door  25  is mounted between the evaporator  2  and the heater core  3  to adjust temperature, and a plurality of mode doors  24  are respectively mounted at the vents  21 ,  22  and  23  to carry out various air discharge modes while regulating the degree of opening of the corresponding vents  21 ,  22  and  23 . 
     In the meantime, the temperature adjusting door  25  is rotatably mounted inside the air conditioning case  20  through a rotary shaft  25   a  and has a sealing member  25   b  formed at the edge for sealing. 
     Furthermore, as shown in  FIG. 2 , partition walls  40  respectively protrude on the inner faces of left and right cases  20   a  and  20   b , and in this instance, opposite end portions of the partition walls  40  of the left and right cases  20   a  and  20   b  are assembled with each other. 
     The partition walls  40  partition an air passage of the air conditioning case  20  into a predetermined form to form air flow paths. 
     In the conventional air conditioner, when the air conditioner is turned on, indoor air or outdoor air introduced into the air conditioning case  20  by the air blower is cooled while passing through the evaporator  2 , and then, is supplied to the interior of the vehicle through the vents  21 ,  22  and  23  after being selectively heated by the heater core  3 , so that the conventional air conditioner can perform cooling and heating. 
     However, as shown in  FIG. 2 , the conventional air conditioner has a problem in that the thickness of the lower ends of the partition walls  40  increases due to the height of the partition walls  40  and the weight of the air conditioner also increases because the partition walls  40  protrude high from the inner faces of the left and right cases  20   a  and  20   b  and the sides of the partition walls  40  are sloped for a mold removal gradient. 
     Furthermore, the conventional air conditioner has a problem in that air fluidity is deteriorated because the air passages are decreased due to an increase of the thickness of the partition walls  40 . 
     DISCLOSURE 
     Technical Problem 
     Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicular air conditioning device, wherein a partition wall for partitioning an air passage inside an air conditioning case is formed separately from the air conditioning case and is detachably assembled to left and right cases, thereby reducing thickness and weight of the vehicular air conditioning device because the partition wall is fabricated regardless of the mold removing direction during injection molding and improving air fluidity by securing the air passage. It is another object of the present invention to provide a vehicular air conditioning device, wherein warm air supply channels for supplying warm air to a defrost vent are integrally formed on the partition wall, thereby reducing material costs and mold machining costs because additional structure for fixing the warm air supply channels is not needed and facilitating performance improvement by freely positioning the warm air supply channels within the size of the partition wall. 
     Technical Solution 
     To accomplish the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a vehicular air conditioning device, which includes an air conditioning case being configured by a left case and a right case assembled with each other and having an air passage formed therein and a partition wall for partitioning the air passage inside the air conditioning case into a predetermined form, wherein the partition wall is formed separately from the air conditioning case and is detachably assembled between the left case and the right case. 
     Advantageous Effects 
     As described above, according to embodiments of the present invention, the partition wall for partitioning the air passage inside the air conditioning case is formed separately from the air conditioning case and is detachably assembled to left and right cases, such that the vehicular air conditioning device can reduce its thickness and weight because the partition wall is fabricated regardless of the mold removing direction during injection molding and can improve air fluidity by securing the air passage. 
     Additionally, according to embodiments of the present invention, the warm air supply channels for supplying warm air to a defrost vent are integrally formed on the partition wall, such that the vehicular air conditioning device can reduce material costs and mold machining costs because additional structure for fixing the warm air supply channels is not needed and can facilitate performance improvement by freely positioning the warm air supply channels within the size of the partition wall. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional air conditioner for a vehicle. 
         FIG. 2  is a sectional view showing a state where partition walls of left and right cases of  FIG. 1  are assembled with each other. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view showing a state where a right case is separated from a vehicular air conditioning device according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a sectional view of  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 5  is a partially sectional view showing a state where a partition wall is combined between left and right cases of the vehicular air conditioning device according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  is a partially sectional view showing another combination structure between the left and right cases and the partition wall in  FIG. 5 . 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view showing a state where a right case is separated from a vehicular air conditioning device according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 8  is a sectional view of  FIG. 7 . 
         FIG. 9  is a partially sectional view showing a state where a partition wall is combined between left and right cases of the vehicular air conditioning device according to the second preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 10  is an exploded perspective view of a vehicular air conditioning device according to a third preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 11  is a partially sectional view showing a state where a partition wall is divisionally assembled between left and right cases and a separator in the vehicular air conditioning device according to the third preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     MODE FOR INVENTION 
     Reference will be now made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference to the attached drawings. 
     A vehicular air conditioning device  100  according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: an air conditioning case  110 , which has an air inflow port  111  formed at one side (inlet side) thereof for introducing air thereinto, a plurality of air outflow ports, such as a defrost vent  112 , a face vent  113  and a floor vent  114 , formed at the other side (outlet side) thereof for discharging air to the interior of the vehicle, and an air passage formed inside the air conditioning case  110  to communicate the air outflow ports  28  with the air inflow port  111 ; an evaporator  101  and a heater core  102  that are mounted on the air passage in order and spaced apart from each other at a predetermined interval; and an air blower (not shown) mounted at the air inflow port  111  of the air conditioning case  110 . 
     The air conditioning case  110  is formed by a left case  110   a  and a right case  110   b  assembled with each other. 
     Moreover, a temperature adjusting door  145  is mounted between the evaporator  101  and the heater core  102  to adjust temperature. The temperature adjusting door  145  is rotatably mounted inside the air conditioning case  110  through a rotary shaft to regulate the degree of opening of a cold air passage P 1 , which bypasses the heater core  102 , and a warm air passage P 2 , which passes through the heater core  102 . 
     Furthermore, in order to selectively distribute the air, which selectively passes the heater core  102  after passing through the evaporator  101 , to ducts (not shown) communicating with specific positions inside a vehicle, a plurality of mode doors  140 ,  141  and  142  are respectively mounted at the defrost vent  112 , the face vent  113  and the floor vent  114  to perform various air discharge modes. 
     In this instance, the mode doors  140 ,  141  and  142  are also rotatably mounted inside the air conditioning case  110  through their rotary shafts. 
     The defrost vent  112  discharges air toward the front window of the vehicle, the face vent  113  discharges air toward the face of a passenger, who is sitting on the front seat, and the floor vent  114  discharges air toward the passenger&#39;s feet. 
     In the meantime, the air blower (not shown) includes an indoor air inlet and an outdoor air inlet formed at the upper part to be opened and closed by an indoor and outdoor air converting door  147  for selectively introducing indoor air and outdoor air, and a blower fan mounted inside the air blower for blowing the air introduced through the indoor air inlet and the outdoor air inlet toward the air conditioning case  110 . 
     As described above, the doors mounted inside the air conditioning case  110 , such as the temperature adjusting door  145  and the mode doors  140 ,  141  and  142 , convert a flow direction of the air flowing through the air passages inside the air conditioning case  110 . 
     Additionally, a partition wall  135  is formed on the air passage of the air conditioning case  110  to partition the air passage into a predetermined form. 
     The partition wall  135  is formed in various shapes on the air passage inside the air conditioning case  110  to partition the air passage, such that the air flowing through the air passage flow along the passage partitioned by the partition wall  135 . 
     For example, the partition wall  135  formed at the rear side of the heater core  102  partitions the warm air passage P 2  located in the rear side of the heater core  102  from the floor vent  114 . Therefore, the air passing through the heater core  102  moves along the passage partitioned by the partition wall  135 , is mixed with cold air in a mixing chamber, and then, flows to the air outflow port opened. 
     As described above, the passage in which the air flows may be formed in various ways according to the form of the partition wall  135 . 
     Moreover, the partition wall  135  is formed separately from the air conditioning case  110  and may detachably assembled between the left case  110   a  and the right case  110   b.    
     In other words, conventionally, because the partition wall  135  is formed integrally with the inner face of the left case  110   a  and the inner face of the right case  110   b  to protrude long to the central part of the air conditioning case  110 , the mold removal gradient (slope) is essentially formed on the side of the partition wall  135 . 
     However, according to embodiments of the present invention, the partition wall  135  is formed separately from the air conditioning case  110  and is detachably assembled to the left and right cases  110   a  and  110   b.    
     As described above, because the partition wall  135  is formed separately from the air conditioning case  110 , the partition wall  135  may be fabricated regardless of the mold removing direction during injection molding. In other words, because there is no need to apply the mold removal gradient to the partition wall  135 , the vehicular air conditioning device according to the present invention may reduce thickness and weight of the partition wall  135  and material costs. Moreover, the vehicular air conditioning device according to the present invention may improve air fluidity because securing the air passages inside the air conditioning case due to the reduction in thickness of the partition wall  135 . 
     Furthermore, in order to assemble the partition wall  135  and the left and right cases  110   a  and  110   b  with each other, as shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , tongue parts  115  and  137  are formed at any one of both end portions of the partition wall  135  and opposite assembled sides of the left and right cases  110   a  and  110   b , and grooves  116  and  136  to which the tongue parts  115  and  137  are inserted are formed at the other one of both end portions of the partition wall  135  and opposite assembled sides of the left and right cases  110   a  and  110   b.    
     In  FIG. 5 , the tongue parts  115  are formed on the inner faces of the left and right cases  110   a  and  110   b , and the grooves  136  to which the tongue parts  117  are inserted are formed at both end portions of the partition wall  135 . 
     In  FIG. 6 , the grooves  116  are formed in the inner faces of the left and right cases  110   a  and  110   b , and the tongue parts  137  which are inserted into the grooves  116  are formed at both end portions of the partition wall  135 . Of course, as shown in the drawing, the tongue parts  137  formed at both end portions of the partition wall  135  may be formed in the same thickness as the partition wall  135  or may be formed in different thickness. 
     Therefore, when the partition wall  135  is assembled between the left and right cases  110   a  and  110   b , the tongue parts  115  and  137  and the grooves  116  and  136  formed on the assembled faces of the left and right cases  110   a  and  110   b  and the partition wall  135  are forcedly combined and assembled with each other. 
     Moreover, a plurality of assembly pins  138  are protrudingly formed at both end portions of the partition wall  135 , and a plurality of assembly holes (not shown) to which the assembly pins  138  are forcedly combined are formed on the inner faces of the left and right cases  110   a  and  110   b.    
     Therefore, in the case that the partition wall  135  is assembled to the left and right cases  110   a  and  110   b , when the assembly pins  138  of the partition wall  135  are first fit to the assembly holes of the left and right cases  110   a  and  110   b , the partition wall  135  may be easily located at the correct position so that assembly can be achieved simply and misassembly is prevented. 
     Furthermore, the partition wall  135  is mounted to partition the warm air passage P 2  of the rear side of the heater core  102  and the floor vent  114 . 
     In this instance, the lower end portion of the partition wall  135  gets in contact with the floor surface of the air conditioning case  110 , and the upper end portion is formed to extend toward the mixing chamber MC where cold air and warm air are mixed. Therefore, the warm air passing through the heater core  102  is guided to the partition wall  135  to flow into the mixing chamber MC. 
     Additionally, in order to forcedly supply the warm air passing through the warm air passage P 2  toward the defrost vent  112  according to temperature, performance and requirements of the vehicular air conditioning device  100 , warm air supply channels  130  may be mounted. As shown in  FIGS. 7 to 9 , in a second preferred embodiment of the present invention, the warm air supply channels  130  are formed integrally with the partition wall  135 . 
     That is, because the partition wall  135  is fabricated separately from the air conditioning case  110 , the warm air supply channels  130  are formed integrally with the partition wall  135 . 
     As described above, because the warm air supply channels  130  are formed integrally with the partition wall  135 , there is no need to have additional structure for fixing the warm air supply channels  130  so that the vehicular air conditioning device according to the second preferred embodiment of the present invention can reduce material costs and mold machining costs. In addition, because the warm air supply channels  130  can be freely located at the correct position within the size of the partition wall  135 , the vehicular air conditioning device according to the second preferred embodiment of the present invention can easily improve performance. 
     Moreover, the warm air supply channels  130  are formed to be located at the mixing chamber MC where the cold air bypassing the heater core  102  and the warm air passing through the heater core  102  inside the air conditioning case  110  are mixed. 
     Furthermore, the warm air supply channels  130  are made in the form of a tube to be partitioned from the air of the mixing chamber MC, and a pair of the warm air supply channels  130  are formed to be spaced apart from each other at a predetermined interval. 
     In other words, some of the warm air passing through the warm air passage P 2  is mixed with the cold air passing through the cold air passage P 1  in the mixing chamber MC, but some of the warm air is not mixed with the cold air but directly flows toward the defrost vent  112  through the tubular warm air supply channels  130 , so that warm air is supplied sufficiently and temperature of the warm air does not go down. 
     In a third preferred embodiment shown in  FIGS. 10 and 11 , the partition wall  135  is applied to a structure that a separator  150  is mounted between the left and right cases  110   a  and  110   b  in order to independently control temperature of the driver&#39;s seat and the passenger&#39;s seat inside the vehicle. 
     Namely, the separator  150  for dividing the air passage inside the air conditioning case  110  into the left and right is mounted between the left case  110   a  and the right case  110   b.    
     The separator  150  divides the air passage of the downstream side of the evaporator  101  into the left and right inside the air conditioning case  110 . 
     In the meantime, the temperature adjusting door  145  is mounted to be independently controlled at the left and right of the separator  150 . 
     The partition wall  135  includes a left partition wall  135   a  and a right partition wall  135   b  which are divided and assembled at the left and right sides of the separator  150 . 
     That is, in the first and second preferred embodiments, the single partition wall  135  is mounted, but in the third preferred embodiment, the partition walls  135  are dividedly assembled at the left and right sides of the separator  150 . 
     Therefore, when the partition wall  135  is formed between the left and right cases  110   a  and  110   b  and the separator  150  in an air conditioning device with independent control having the separator  150 , the air conditioning device may reduce thickness and weight of the partition wall  135  and material costs. 
     Moreover, tongue parts  137  are formed at any one of both end portions of the left and right partition walls  135   a  and  135   b  and the assembled faces of the left and right cases  110   a  and  110   b  and the separator  150 , and grooves  116  and  151  to which the tongue parts  137  are respectively inserted are formed at the other one. 
     In other words, the tongue part  137  is formed at any one of both end portions of the left partition wall  135   a  and the assembled face of the left case  110   a  and the separator  150  and the groove  116  or  151  to which the tongue part  137  is inserted is formed at the other one, and the tongue part  137  is formed at any one of both end portions of the right partition wall  135   b  and the assembled face of the right case  110   b  and the separator  150  and the groove  116  or  151  to which the tongue part  137  is inserted is formed at the other one. 
     In  FIG. 11 , the grooves  116  and  151  are formed at the left and right cases  110   a  and  110   b  and the separator  150 , and the tongue parts  137  which are respectively inserted into the grooves  116  and  151  are formed at both end portions of the left and right partition walls  135   a  and  135   b.    
     Of course, as shown in the drawing, the tongue parts  137  formed at both end portions of the left and right partition walls  135   a  and  135   b  may be formed in the same thickness as the left and right partition walls  135   a  and  135   b  or may be formed in different thickness. 
     Therefore, when the left and right partition walls  135   a  and  135   b  are assembled between the left and right cases  110   a  and  110   b  and the separator  150 , the tongue parts  137  are respectively assembled to the grooves  116  and  151  of the left and right cases  110   a  and  110   b  and the separator  150 . 
     In the meantime, like the first and second preferred embodiment, warm air supply channels  130  are formed integrally with the left and right partition walls  135   a  and  135   b  to supply the warm air passing through the warm air passage P 2  of the rear side of the heater core  102  to the defrost vent  112 . Therefore, there is no need to have additional structure for fixing the warm air supply channels  130  so that the vehicular air conditioning device according to the third preferred embodiment of the present invention can reduce material costs and mold machining costs. In addition, because the warm air supply channels  130  can be freely located at the correct position within the size of the partition wall  135 , the vehicular air conditioning device according to the third preferred embodiment of the present invention can easily improve performance. 
     Hereinafter, the action of the vehicular air conditioning device  100  according to the present invention will be described, and for convenience&#39; sake, the first preferred embodiment as an example will be described. 
     First, the assembly process will be described. 
     After the left case  110   a  (or the right case  110   b ) is fixed, the partition wall  135  is assembled to the left case  110   a.    
     In this instance, the partition wall  135  is forcedly combined using the tongue parts  115  and  137  and the grooves  116  and  136 , which are formed on the assembled faces of the partition wall  135  and the left case  110   a.    
     After that, the right case  110   b  is forcedly assembled to the other end portion of the partition wall  135  using the tongue parts  115  and  137  and the grooves  116  and  136 . 
     As described above, after the left and right cases  110   a  and  110   b  and the partition wall  135  are assembled together, the left and right cases  110   a  and  110   b  are fastened by clips (not shown) or screws (not shown), such that the left and right cases  110   a  and  110   b  and the partition wall  135  are fixed firmly. 
     Of course, before the left and right cases  110   a  and  110   b  are assembled, various components, such as the doors, are previously located inside the left and right cases  110   a  and  110   b.    
     Hereinafter, an air discharge mode of the vehicular air conditioning device  100  will be described. For convenience′ sake, a mixing mode (see  FIG. 8 ) will be described. 
     First, when air is introduced into the air conditioning case  110  after the air blower is operated, the air is converted into cold air while passing through the evaporator  101 . 
     In this instance, some of the cold air heat-exchanged in the evaporator  101  bypasses the heater core  102  by the temperature adjusting door  145  and flows into the mixing chamber MC. Moreover, some of the cold air is converted into warm air while passing through the heater core  102 , flows into the mixing chamber MC along the war air passage P 2 , and then, is mixed with cold air. 
     Meanwhile, some of the warm air flowing through the warm air passage P 2  is introduced into the warm air supply channel  130 , and then, is not mixed with the cold air but directly flows toward the defrost vent  112 . 
     Continuously, some of the air mixed in the mixing chamber MC is discharged toward the window inside the vehicle through the defrost vent  112 , and some of the air is discharged toward the passenger&#39;s feet inside the vehicle through the floor vent  114 . 
     In the meantime, the mixing mode is only described in this specification, but, other air discharge modes, such as a vent mode, a floor mode, a defrost mode and a by-level mode, may be performed, and detailed descriptions of the air discharge modes will be omitted because such air discharge modes are well-known.