Patent ID: 7377309

Claim:
An air conditioning apparatus for performing an air conditioning operation in a rear space of a passenger compartment of a vehicle, the rear space being on a rear side of a front seat of the vehicle, the apparatus comprising: an air blowing device for blowing air; an air conditioner case mounted adjacent to the rear space of the passenger compartment of the vehicle defining an air passage through which the air blown by the air blowing device flows, the case forming a first opening and a second opening at a downstream end of the air passage; a first heat exchanger provided in the air conditioner case for cooling the air blown by the air blowing device; a second heat exchanger provided in the air conditioner case for heating cooled air that has passed through the first heat exchanger; a bypass passage provided in the air conditioner case to allow the cooled air to pass therethrough while bypassing the second heat exchanger; a passage-switching door provided in the air conditioner case to distribute the cooled air toward the second heat exchanger and the bypass passage; a mode-switching door provided in the air conditioner case to distribute the cooled air bypassed the second heat exchanger and heated air heated by the second heat exchanger toward the first opening and the second opening; a guide provided at a position upstream of the mode-switching door; a first duct connected to the first opening for leading air from the first opening to an upper area of the passenger compartment; and a second duct connected to the second opening for leading air from the second opening to a lower area of the passenger compartment; wherein the first opening is aligned with a flow direction of the cooled air passing through the bypass passage; the second heat exchanger is located under the bypass passage, the second opening is disposed on a first side wall of the air conditioner case, the guide is disposed on a lower portion of a second side wall of the air conditioner case, the second side wall being opposed to the first side wall, the guide projects from the second side wall toward the second opening for directing the heated air toward the second opening.