Patent Publication Number: US-2007099557-A1

Title: Louver structure of air conditioner for a bus

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELETAED APPLICATION  
      This application claims priority to and the benefit of Korean Patent Application 10-2005-0104008 filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Nov. 1, 2005, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.  
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to an air conditioner for a vehicle, and more particularly to a louver structure of an air conditioner for a bus, by which a passenger can control the direction and the amount of cooling air discharged from an air conditioner of a bus according to his or her desire.  
     BACKGROUND  
      Generally, a vehicle has an air conditioner for circulating, filtering and keeping air flowing in the interior and exterior of the vehicle at a constant temperature. The air conditioner includes a blower for sucking in air from the interior or exterior of the vehicle and for heating or cooling the air so as to discharge the air, and an air duct and defroster for circulating the air from the blower.  
      A damper is installed at an exit of the air duct so as to isolate a nozzle and an air passage for controlling the amount of cooling air or heated air, while a refrigerator or heater is connected to an entrance of the air duct so as to cool or heat the air.  
      Further, it is common for louvers of the air conditioner connected to the duct to be installed over windows on passenger buses.  
      The louvers of the air conditioner discharge the cooling air to the passengers who sit while the air conditioner mounted in the vehicle operates to supply the cooling air through the duct of the air conditioner.  
      The louvers of the air conditioner are installed to a lower surface of the duct of the air conditioner for a bus and have respective ports for supplying the cooling air to the cabin of the bus, to which louver housings are rotatably mounted.  
      Each of the louver housings has a structure in that a pair of wings and a control knob for operating the wings are installed in the louver housing. Each wing has a hemispheric shape.  
      In the conventional louver structure of the air conditioner as described above, the discharging direction of the blowing air can be converted according to the necessity of the passenger which gets on the bus.  
      That is, the control knob is operated to control a rotation angle of the wings, thereby controlling the amount of the blowing air and rotating the louver housing in a desired direction in which the passenger wants to rotate the louver housing.  
      However, the conventional louver structure of the air conditioner has a problem in that the cooling air is discharged from the louver only in a vertically downward direction, so that a cooling area is limited.  
      The cooling air is discharged to a place at which the louver is installed, so as to continue to refrigerate the place, while the cooling air is not discharged to a place at which the louver is not installed. Thus, there arises difference of cooling effect between the places, resulting in inefficient cooling performance in the cabin of the vehicle.  
      Further, since the cooling air discharged to the passengers comes in direct contact with their bodies, the cooling air has the potential to badly affect the health of a baby, a child, and an old man when the baby, child and old man are exposed to the cooling air for a long time. Meanwhile, as the passengers are continuously exposed to the cooling air, there remains the disadvantage that the passengers are exposed to the vehicle&#39;s unpleasantness until the vehicle arrives at its destination.  
      The information set forth in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art that is already known to a person skilled in the art.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      In one aspect, a louver structure of an air conditioner is provided for a motor vehicle particularly a bus, by which passengers getting on the bus can control the direction and the amount of cooling air discharged from an air conditioner of a bus by way of a control portion that can be regulated in accordance with each passenger&#39;s cooling preference.  
      In a preferred aspect, a louver structure of an air conditioner for a vehicle is provided, which suitably comprises: a louver body for discharging cooling air supplied through a duct and comprising one or more apertures; one or more air control plates positioned in coordination with one or more apertures of the louver body and comprising a first air discharging portion in order to discharge cooling air, one or more air control housings positioned in coordination with the louver body and comprising a second air discharging portion; and one or more adjustment controls that can be accessed by a vehicle passenger and preferably extend into the louver body.  
      In a particularly preferred aspect, there is provided a louver structure of an air conditioner for a bus, which includes: a louver body for discharging cooling air supplied through a duct, the louver body being installed in the duct arranged in the bus and having thru-holes formed in the louver body; air control plates respectively installed in each thru-hole of the louver body and having a first air discharging portion in order to discharge the cooling air; air control housings fixedly installed to the louver body and respectively having a second air discharging portion; knobs installed under the air control plates respectively, and each knob including a control portion having one end directed downward in order for a user to easily operate the knob and the other end extending through the air control plate and a center of the air control housing to an interior of the louver body, air control cap respectively installed to the other end of the control portion; and air control conversion portions installed to the air control housings respectively, and each of which has a flowing hole formed at a center portion of the air control conversion portion for discharging the cooling air vertically and a guide portion formed around the flowing hole for discharging the cooling air horizontally.  
      The air control plate includes a coupling hole through which the one end of the control portion of each knob extends, and the first air discharging portion formed around the coupling hole. The first air discharging portion includes first air discharging holes which are radially and outwardly formed around the coupling hole, for passing the cooling air through the first air discharging holes in a vertically downward direction, and second air discharging holes which are radially and outwardly formed around the first air discharging holes, for passing the cooling air through the second air discharging holes in a horizontal direction.  
      The first air discharging holes of each air control plate are respectively formed at each one third position between the second air discharging holes.  
      Each of air control housings includes an insertion hole in which the one end of the control portion of each knob, and the second air discharging portion formed around the insertion hole. The second air discharging portion includes third air discharging holes formed radially and outwardly around the insertion hole, for passing the cooling air through the third air discharging holes in a vertically downward direction, fourth air discharging holes formed radially and outwardly around the third air discharging holes, for passing the cooling air through the fourth air discharging holes in a horizontal direction, and a mounting groove depressed in the air control housing so that the air control conversion portion is installed.  
      The third air discharging holes are formed at two third positions between the fourth air discharging holes.  
      The air control housing has mounting holes through which coupling screws extend in order to fix the air control housing to mounting clips of the louver body.  
      Each knob includes a housing portion installed to the control portion, which has a hemispheric shape with an upper portion of the housing portion opened and has a plurality of though-holes, latching protrusions which are latched in latching grooves of the air control plate to which the control portion is coupled, and a supporting plate formed below the latching protrusions, which is in surface contact with a lower surface of the air control housing so that the latching protrusions are inserted in the latching grooves of the air control plate.  
      The control portion has a first screw thread formed at the other end of the control portion.  
      The air control cap has a second screw thread formed on an inner peripheral surface of the air control cap in order to assemble the air control cap with the other end of the control portion.  
      The invention also includes motor vehicles particularly a bus and other commercial vehicles that comprise a louver structure of an air conditioner as described herein.  
      It is understood that the term “vehicle” or “vehicular” or other similar terms as used herein is inclusive of motor vehicles in general such as passenger automobiles, buses, trucks, various commercial vehicles, and the like. As discussed herein, in certain aspects, a preferred vehicle is a multiple-passenger motor vehicle, particularly a bus that may be designed for an occupancy of 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 6, 20, 24, 30 or more passengers.  
      Other aspects of the invention are discussed below. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:  
       FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view showing a louver structure of an air conditioner for a bus showing according to the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a sectional view showing the louver structure of the air conditioner for the bus according to the present invention, in which elements of the louver are assembled; and  
       FIGS. 3A  to  3 D are sectional views illustrating an operation of the louver structure of the air conditioner for the bus according to the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      As discussed above, a louver structure for a motor vehicle particularly a bus is provided which suitably comprises a louver body for discharging cooling air supplied through a duct and comprising one or more apertures; one or more air control plates positioned in coordination with one or more apertures of the louver body and comprising a first air discharging portion in order to discharge the cooling air, one or more air control housings positioned in coordination with the louver body and comprising a second air discharging portion; and one or more adjustment controls that can be accessed by a bus passenger and preferably may extend into the louver body. The louver body also may preferably include air control conversion portions installed to the air control housings. Suitably, one or more air control conversion portions comprises a flowing hole for discharging the cooling air vertically and a guide portion for discharging the cooling air horizontally. Preferably, the louver body may further comprise one or more air control caps installed in coordination with a control portion.  
      The louver body may be suitably configured by a variety of arrangements. For instance, in a preferred aspect, where the louver body is included in a multiple-passenger bus, the louver body is suitably installed in the duct arranged in the bus.  
      A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.  
       FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view showing a preferred louver structure of an air conditioner for a bus according to the present invention, and  FIG. 2  is a sectional view showing the louver structure of the air conditioner for the bus according to the present invention, in which elements of the louver are assembled.  
      The louver body  10  is suitably installed to a duct (not shown) of the air conditioner mounted in a vehicle, which suitably has thru-holes  12  respectively formed therein and mounting clips  14  mounted to an inner periphery of each thru-hole  12  in a close contact manner.  
      The louver body  10  having the thru-holes  12  suitably may have at least two mounting clips  14  mounted thereto. In a preferred configuration, the louver body  10  has four mounting clips mounted thereto.  
      Air control plates  20  having a first air discharging portion  22  are suitably installed to the thru-holes  12  respectively, so that cooling air supplied through the duct can be discharged through the first air discharging portion  22  of the air control plates  20 .  
      Air control housings  30  are preferably fixedly installed to the louver body  10 , which are respectively placed below each air control plate  20 .  
      Adjustment controls such as knobs  40  are respectively installed below each air control plate  20 , and may include control portions  42  each of which one end is directed downward in order for a user to easy operate the knob  40  and each of which the other end extends through center portions of the air control plate  20 , the air control housing  30 , and the louver body  10  into the duct.  
      Each air control plate  20  suitably has a coupling hole  21  formed at a center portion thereof so that one end of a control portion  42  extends through the coupling hole  21 , and latching grooves  21   a  depressed outwardly around the coupling hole  21 .  
      The first air discharging portion  22  preferably is outwardly and radially formed around the coupling hole  21 , which includes first air discharging holes  22   a  through which the cooling air extends in a vertically downward direction, and second air discharging holes  22   a  preferably which are radially and outwardly formed apart from the first air discharging holes  22   a , for passing the cooling air through the second air discharging holes  22   b.    
      The first air discharging holes  22   a  of each control plate  20  preferably are formed at third one position between the second air discharging holes  22   b.    
      Each air control housing  30  suitably has an insertion hole  34  through which one end of the control portion  42  is inserted. A second discharging portion  32  is preferably outwardly and radially formed around the insertion hole  34 , which includes third air discharging holes  32   a  in order to pass the cooling air therethrough in a vertically downward direction, and fourth air discharging holes  32   b  which are outwardly and radially formed apart from the third air discharging holes in order to pass the cooling air therethrough in a horizontal direction.  
      The third air discharging holes  32   a  suitably are formed at third two positions between the fourth air discharging holes  32   b  in the air control housing  30 .  
      With the arrangement of the first and second air discharging holes  22   a  and  22   b  formed in the air control plate  20  and the third and fourth air discharging holes  32   a  and  32   b  formed in the air control housing  30  as described above, it can be possible to discharge the cooling air in the vertically downward direction, the horizontal direction, and the vertically downward and horizontal direction, because the control portion  42  of the knob  40  operates along with the air control plate  20  so as to supply the cooling air to a cabin of the bus from the duct.  
      The control portion  42  suitably has the other end assembled with the air control cap  50  which has a second screw thread  50   a  on an inner periphery thereof. The second screw thread  50   a  is suitably engaged with a first screw thread  42   a  formed on the other end of the control portion  42 .  
      The knob  40  (exemplary adjustment control) is connected to the control portion  42  and in a preferred configuration includes a hosing portion  44  having a hemispheric shape with an upper portion opened and having a plurality of through-holes  44   a.    
      The control portion  42  preferably has latching protrusions  46  to be engaged with the latching grooves  21   a  respectively. Further, the control portion  42  preferably includes a supporting plate  48  which is formed below the latching protrusions  46  to be in surface contact with a lower surface of the air control housing  30  so that the latching protrusions  46  are stably inserted in the latching grooves  21 .  
      Each air control conversion portion  60  is preferably assembled to the air control housing  30 , and has a air flowing hole  62  formed at a center thereof for discharging the cooling air through the air flowing hole  62  in a vertical direction, and a guide portion  64  formed around and extends outwardly from the air flowing hole  62  for discharging the cooling air in a horizontal direction.  
      Referring to  FIG. 2 , the air control housing  30  suitably has a mounting groove  36  depressed therein and annularly formed apart from the fourth air discharging holes  32   b  (see  FIG. 1 ), so that the air control conversion portion  60  is mounted to the air control housing  30 .  
      The air control housing  30   b  preferably has mounting holes  38  (see  FIG. 1 ) in order to fix the air control housing  30   b  to the mounting clips  14  of the louver body  10  by means of screws.  
      Operation of a preferred a louver structure of an air conditioner for a multiple-passenger vehicle such as a bus in accordance with the invention is now described with reference to drawings.  
      Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the louver body  10  is suitably installed to the duct (not shown) of the air conditioner which is mounted in a motor vehicle particularly a multiple-passenger vehicle such as a bus (not shown).  
      The louver body  10  suitably has connecting holes formed at comers thereof so as to be fixedly installed to the duct by means of separate bolts or coupling screws.  
      The air control plate  20  is suitably installed on the air control housing  30 . The control portion  42  of the adjustment control such as knob  40  extends through the coupling hole  21  of the air control plate  20  and the insertion hole  34  of the air control housing  30 , and is operatively assembled with the louver body  10 .  
      That is, the air control cap  50  is coupled to the other end of the control portion  42 , below which the air control plate  20  is placed to operate by a rotating operation of the control portion  42 .  
      The air control housing  30  is suitably installed below the air control plate  20  to be in close contact with a lower surface of the air control plate  20 , which is fixed to the mounting clips  14  of the louver body  10  by extending separate coupling screws through the mounting holes  38  of the air control housing  20  respectively.  
      Referring again to  FIG. 2 , when a vehicle has many passengers getting thereon in the season, i.e. summer that temperature increases and driven, the temperature in the vehicle can rapidly increase.  
      Under such conditions, when a driver turns on the air conditioner (not shown) mounted in the vehicle to perform a cooling in the vehicle, the cooling air with controlled temperature and humidity is discharged through the thru-holes  12  (see  FIG. 1 ) formed in the louver body  10  by way of the duct of the air conditioner installed in the vehicle.  
      Hereinafter, an operation of the louver structure of the air conditioner for the bus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with relation to the case where the cooling air is discharged through the thru-holes  12  in the vertically downward direction.  
      Referring to  FIG. 3A , when the passengers rotatably operate the control portion  42  of the knob  40  under the condition that the cabin in the vehicle is not cooled yet even though the cooling is performed in the vehicle, the air control plate  20  is rotated in a clockwise or counter clockwise direction by the latching protrusions  46  which are formed on the control portion  42  and engaged with the latching grooves  21   a  of the air control plate  20 .  
      As the air control plate  20  rotates in the clockwise or counterclockwise direction, the first air discharging holes  22   a  of the first air discharging portion  22  formed in the air control plate  20  are aligned with the third air discharging holes  32   a  of the second air discharging portion  32  formed in the air control housing  30  while the second air discharging holes  22   b  is misaligned with the fourth air discharging holes  32   b , so as to discharge the cooling air through the first, second, third, and fourth holes  22   a ,  22   b ,  32   a , and  32   b  in the vertically downward direction.  
      The first air discharging holes  22   a  of the first air discharging portion  22  are aligned with the third air discharging holes  32   a  of the air control housing  30 , but the second air discharging holes  22   b  are misaligned with the fourth air discharging holes  32   b . Thus, the cooling air supplied from the duct passes through the thru-holes  12  (see  FIG. 1 ) of the louver body  10 , which in turn passes through the first and third air discharging holes  22   a  and  32   a.    
      The cooling air passing through the first and third air discharging holes  22   a  and  32   a  is introduced in the housing portion  44  (see  FIG. 1 ) of the knob  40 .  
      Since the housing portion  44  has the hemispheric shape in order for the cooling air to be diffusively discharged, the cooling air introduced into the housing portion  44  is discharged through the plurality of through-holes  44   a  in the vertically downward direction as indicated by arrows.  
      In this state, when the control portion  42  is finely rotated in the clockwise or counterclockwise direction, the first air discharging holes  22   a  come in misalignment with the third air discharging holes  32   a  in proportional to the rotation of the control portion  42 , thereby controlling the amount of the cooling air discharged into the housing portion  44 .  
      Accordingly, if a large amount of the cooling air is discharged in the vertically downward direction and comes in direct contact with bodies of the passengers, the passengers can control the amount of the cooling air to the desired extent.  
      The supporting plate  48  formed on the control portion  42  operates in the state of being in contact with the lower surface of the air control housing  30  in order for the latching protrusions  46  to stably operate without a separation form the latching grooves  21  (see  FIG. 1 ) of the air control plate  20 , during the rotation of the control portion  42 .  
      On the other hand, hereinafter, an operation of the louver structure of the air conditioner for the bus according to the present invention will be described in the case where the passengers are uncomfortable because of the directly discharged cooling air in the vertically downward direction.  
      Referring to  FIG. 3B , when the passengers using the louver  10  in the state of  FIG. 3A  rotate the control portion  42 , the latching protrusions  46  formed on the control portion  42  are engaged with the latching grooves  21  (see  FIG. 1 ) of the air control plate  20  so as to rotate the air control plate  20  in the clockwise or counterclockwise direction.  
      As the air control plate  20  rotates in the clockwise or counterclockwise direction, the first and second air discharging holes  22   a  and  22   b  of the first air discharging portion  22  formed in the air control plate  20  are aligned with or misaligned with the third and fourth air discharging holes  32   a  and  32   b  of the second air discharging portion  32  formed in the air control housing  30  so that the cooling air is discharged in the horizontal direction.  
      That is, the first air discharging holes  22   a  are misaligned with the third air discharging holes  32   a  while the second air discharging holes  22   b  is aligned with the fourth air discharging holes  32   b , so that the cooling air supplied from the duct passes through the thru-holes  12  (see  FIG. 1 ) of the louver body  10 , the second air discharging holes  22   b , and the fourth air discharging holes  32   b.    
      The cooling air passing through the second and fourth air discharging holes  22   b  and  32   b  is discharged toward the guide portion  64  of the air control conversion portion  60  installed to the air control housing  30 , flows along the guide portion  64 , and then is discharged in the horizontal direction as indicated by arrows of  FIG. 3B .  
      In this state, when the control portion  42  is finely operated, the second air discharging holes  22   b  come in the misalignment with the fourth air discharging holes  32   b  to the extent that the control portion  42  is rotated, thereby controlling the amount of the cooling air which is discharged to the guide portion  64 .  
      Accordingly, the cooling air is discharged in the horizontal direction, so that direct flow onto the bodies of the passengers is reduced.  
      In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an operation of the louver structure of the air conditioner for the bus when the cooling air is discharged through the thru-holes  12  in the vertically downward and horizontal directions by the passengers getting on the vehicle will be described.  
      Referring to  FIG. 3C , in order to discharge the cooling air in the horizontal and vertically downward directions, the control portion  42  is rotated. In the state that the first air discharging holes  22   a  are aligned with the third air discharging holes  32   a , when the control portion  42  is finely controlled so that the second air discharging holes  22   b  are aligned with the fourth air discharging holes  32   b , the first air discharging holes  22   a  are partially aligned with the third air discharging holes  32   a.    
      When the first air discharging holes  22   a  are partially aligned with the third air discharging holes  32   a , the second air discharging holes  22   b  also are partially aligned with the fourth air discharging holes  32   b , thereby making it possible to discharge the cooling air in the vertically downward and horizontal directions.  
      In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, an operation of the louver of the air conditioner for the bus when all the first and second air discharging portions are closed because the passengers getting on the vehicle do not want the discharge of the cooling air anymore will be described with reference to drawings.  
      Referring to  FIG. 3D , in the case where the passengers do not want the discharge of the cooling air anymore, when the control portion  42  is rotated in the clockwise or counterclockwise directions, the first and second air discharging holes  22   a  and  22   b  (see  FIG. 1 ) are misaligned with the third and fourth air discharging holes  32   a  and  32   b , respectively.  
      The above-mentioned operation makes the cooling air to be hardly discharged through the thru-holes  12  (see  FIG. 1 ) of the louver body  10  in any direction.  
      In  FIGS. 3C and 3D , the housing portion  44  provided to the knob  40  is not shown with convenience for description.  
      As described above, the louver structure of the air conditioner for the bus according to the present invention has an advantage in that the passengers can control the desired amount of the cooling air to be discharged from the duct of the air conditioner in the desired direction.  
      Furthermore, when the passengers do not want the cooling air to be in direct contact with their bodies, it is possible to convert the direction of discharging the cooling air in an alternate direction, particularly the horizontal direction. Also, there is an advantage of improving a cooling effect in the cabin of the vehicle.  
      While a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.