JP3296066B2 - Air passage switching device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air passage switching device in which the degree of opening of an air passage portion is changed according to the movement of a flexible film member. In order to rotate a pair of winding shafts connected to both ends of the pulley in an interlocked state, a pulley is connected to each of the winding shafts, and a thread-like member is wound around a winding drum portion of each pulley. The present invention relates to a switching device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in an air passage switching device for an air conditioner for an automobile, a ventilation mode switching door and an air mixing door provided in a duct case are provided with a film-like member made of a flexible material such as a plastic film. It has been considered that the structure is simplified and the overall weight and size are reduced by configuring as a film door that is used.

In this type of air passage switching device, both ends of the film door are connected to different winding shafts in order to move the film door in the forward and reverse directions.
Each winding shaft is configured to be supported by a duct case, and in order to rotate the winding shafts in conjunction with each other,
Pulleys are connected to the respective winding shafts, and a thread-like member, for example, a metal wire is wound between the winding drums of the pulleys.

More specifically, as schematically shown in FIG. 8A, a pair of pulleys 1 and 2 are opened in the respective winding drum portions 1a and 2a on the peripheral surfaces of the winding drum portions 1a and 2a. It has a shape having engaging recesses 1b and 2b, respectively. The wire 3, which is a thread-like member, has a configuration in which spherical metal terminal portions 3a, 3a are connected to both ends, and each terminal portion 3a is engaged with the engaging recess 1b, 2b of the pulleys 1, 2.
Are connected to the respective pulleys 1 and 2 by fitting into the respective pulleys.

[0005]

In the air passage switching device constructed as described above, the engagement between each terminal portion 3a and the engagement recesses 1b, 2b is loose, that is, the terminal portion 3a is engaged. If the terminal portion 3a can move within the concave portions 1b and 2b,
b, 2b. For this reason, in practice, the terminal portions 3a are firmly engaged with the engaging recesses 1b, 2b so that the terminal portions 3a are provided in a fixed state.

For this reason, when the length of the wire 3 is set to be shorter than necessary, for example, as the film door is wound on the shaft on the pulley 2 side, the wire 3 moves to the pulley 1 side. In the state where the wire is wound up to the maximum amount, the connecting portion between the wire 3 and the terminal portion 3a on the pulley 2 side may be in a state as shown in FIG. 8B. In such a state, since the wire 3 bends largely at the joint portion with the terminal portion 3a, a large bending stress acts on that portion. Therefore, wire 3
8A is repeated in accordance with the repetition of the winding operation shown in FIG.
When the state shown in FIG. 8B and the state shown in FIG. 8B repeatedly appear, the bending stress repeatedly acts on the connection portion of the wire 3 with the terminal portion 3a. Could be cut.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to reduce the length of a thread member stretched between pulleys by locally increasing a bending stress on the thread member. It is an object of the present invention to provide an air passage switching device that can minimize the length of a thread-shaped member while preventing the situation where the air passage is added, and can extend the life of a thread-shaped member.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a flexible film which changes the degree of opening of the air passage in response to movement while facing the air passage. A member, a pair of winding shafts connected to both ends of the film-shaped member and winding the film-shaped member according to its own rotation, and a winding drum connected to each of the winding shafts and concentric with the winding shaft. In order to rotate the pair of pulleys having a portion and the respective winding shafts in an interlocked state, the terminal portions coupled to both ends are hung between the winding body portions of the pulleys while being locked to the respective pulleys. After providing the thread member to be transferred and driving means for rotating at least one of the winding shafts to move the film member, the length of the thread member is set to one pulley. With the maximum amount wound on the side, the other In the winding operation direction of the other pulley, a part of the other pulley that is drawn out onto the winding drum portion on the side of the other pulley is in contact with a winding line of the other pulley and a common tangent connecting the winding drum portions of both pulleys. It is set to exist dimensions (claim 1).

In this case, the terminal portion of the thread-like member may be engaged with the pulley by fitting the terminal portion of the thread-like member into an engaging recess formed in the pulley.

The terminal portion of the thread-like member may be inserted into the pulley by insert molding to lock the terminal portion to the pulley.

[0011]

When at least one of the pair of winding shafts is driven to rotate by the driving means, both winding shafts are rotated in an interlocked state via the pulley and the thread-like member, and the film-like member is connected to the winding shaft. Winding is performed, and the degree of opening of the air passage is changed in accordance with the movement of the film-like member accompanying the winding. In this case, the thread-like member has a configuration in which terminal portions are coupled to both ends thereof. However, when the thread-like member is wound by the maximum amount on the winding drum portion on one pulley side, the winding on the other pulley side is performed. The portion pulled out onto the body portion is located in the direction of the winding operation of the other pulley from a portion where the winding body portion of the other pulley and a common tangent line connecting the winding body portions of both pulleys are in contact with each other. For this reason, the thread-shaped member does not bend greatly at the joint portion with the terminal portion, and there is no possibility that a large bending stress acts on the bent portion.
An extra thread-like member does not remain on the winding drum section on the other pulley side, and the length of the thread-like member can be reduced as much as possible.

If the terminal portion of the thread-like member is engaged with the pulley by fitting the terminal portion into the engaging recess formed in the pulley, a step for engaging the terminal portion is performed. Has the advantage of being simpler.

If the terminal portion of the thread-like member is insert-molded with respect to the pulley to lock the terminal portion to the pulley, the shape of the pulley is simplified and the locking is performed. There are advantages to ensuring.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a vehicle air conditioner will be described below with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 6 showing a schematic sectional structure of the automotive air conditioner, a defroster outlet 13 is formed at the most downstream side of a duct case 12 provided with a blower 11 at the most upstream portion. Face outlets 14 on both sides
And a foot outlet 15 are formed. Each outlet 13
15 to 15 are equivalent to the air passage section according to the present invention,
The defroster outlet 13 is provided to blow out conditioned air toward the windshield, and a face outlet 14 is provided.
Is provided for blowing out conditioned air toward the upper body of the occupant, and the foot outlet 15 is provided for blowing out conditioned air at the feet of the occupant.

In the duct case 12, for example, an evaporator 16 is arranged as a cooling means for cooling air at a position near the blower 11, and a portion downstream of the evaporator 16 and at the bottom of the duct case 12 is heated. As a means, for example, a heater core 17 is arranged. in this case,
The heater core 17 is provided so as to be orthogonal to the evaporator 16, so that the air mix ventilation path 18 and the bypass ventilation path 19 (each of the air flow of the present invention) separated by the heater core 17 are provided in the duct case 12. (Corresponding to a passage portion).

The air mix ventilation passage 18 is provided for the heater core 1.
The air passing therethrough is heated by passing through the heater core 17 to become hot air.
The bypass ventilation path 19 is provided to allow the air cooled by the evaporator 16 to flow without flowing through the heater core 17.

The winding shaft 2 is located at a position facing the lower end of the air mix ventilation passage 18 and a position facing the upper end of the bypass ventilation passage 19 in the duct case 12.
0 and 21 are rotatably supported. Winding shaft 20, 2
1 is connected to both ends of a film door 22 for air mixing corresponding to a film member according to the present invention, and the film door 22 is rotated in accordance with forward and reverse rotations of the winding shafts 20 and 21.
Can be selectively moved in the forward and reverse directions.
In this case, one winding shaft 20 is directly rotated by an electric driving means, specifically, a motor 23 (corresponding to a driving means in the present invention) having a built-in speed reduction mechanism, and the other winding shaft 20 is driven by an electric driving means. The take-up shaft 21 is configured to be rotated by the motor 23 via a pulley (not shown) and a wire as a thread-like member. Incidentally, a stepping motor, an ultrasonic motor, or the like may be used as the electric driving means.

The film door 22 has flexibility, relatively high rigidity and strength, desirably has a small coefficient of friction, and is made of a material excellent in abrasion resistance and heat resistance. The PPS resin film is formed of a multilayer film in which an epoxy resin-based adhesive and a polyamide resin woven fabric are laminated on both sides, and a material having a low friction coefficient is formed on the surface by coating or coating. Such a film door 22 is provided with
The air mix ventilation path 1
8 and the bypass ventilation path 19, and is provided in contact with the end surface of the heater core 17 on the evaporator 16 side.

Although not shown, an opening is formed at a predetermined position of the film door 22, and the opening is formed with the air mix ventilation passage 18 and the bypass ventilation passage according to the movement of the film door 22. By selectively opposing one or both of the openings 19, the openings of the ventilation paths 18 and 19 are changed, and the air is transmitted through the air mix ventilation path 18 in accordance with such an opening change. It is possible to arbitrarily adjust the ratio between the air volume and the air volume through the bypass ventilation path 19. Further, a plate-like door 24 for cooling air bypass is provided at a position above the winding shaft 21 in the duct case 12, and the plate-like door 24 is moved to a position shown by a two-dot chain line in the figure during maximum cooling. The cooling air from the evaporator 16 is rotated and the defroster outlet 13
And, it is configured to guide to the face outlet 14 side.

On the other hand, a winding shaft 25 and a winding shaft 25 are provided in the duct case 12 at positions facing the blower 11 end of the face outlet 14 and at positions facing the heater core 17 end of the foot outlet 15, respectively. 26 is rotatably supported. A film door 29 to be described later is connected to each of the intermediate positions between the defroster outlet 13 and the face outlet 14 and the intermediate position between the defroster outlet 13 and the foot outlet 15 in the duct case 12.
Means for extending along 3 to 15, specifically, guide members 27 and 28 formed in a shaft shape having a circular cross section are rotatably supported in a state where a predetermined gap exists between the guide members 27 and 28 and the duct case 12. I have. In this embodiment, the guide members 27 and 28 are configured to be rotatable. However, the guide members 27 and 28 may be provided in a fixed state. The cross-sectional shape of the surface does not hinder the movement of the film door 29;
For example, it is only necessary to exhibit a curved shape.

The winding shafts 25 and 26 are connected to both ends of a film door 29 for switching a blowing mode corresponding to a film-like member according to the present invention. In response, the film door 29 can be selectively moved in the forward and reverse directions.

The film door 29 is also made of the same material as the film door 22, and is wound between the winding shafts 25 and 26 while passing through the gap between the guide members 27 and 28 and the duct case 12. Accordingly, it is movably provided in a state facing the defroster outlet 13, the face outlet 14, and the foot outlet 15.

As shown in FIG. 5, the film door 29 has a plurality of first openings 29a selectively facing the face outlet 14, and selectively has the defroster outlet 13 and the foot outlet 15. Plural opposing second openings 2
9b are formed with a predetermined dimension in the moving direction of the film door 29 and separated from each other. This allows
In response to the movement of the film door 29, the first opening 29a is selectively made to face the face outlet 14, and
By selectively making the opening 29b face one or both of the defroster outlet 13 and the foot outlet 15,
The openings of the air outlets 13 to 15 can be changed, and a plurality of types of air blowing modes can be obtained according to such changes in the opening.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view schematically showing a main part of FIG. 6 with some parts omitted to facilitate understanding of parts related to the gist of the present invention. There will be described below with reference to FIG.

That is, the winding shaft 25 has an electric drive means at one end thereof, specifically, a motor 3 having a built-in speed reduction mechanism.
No. 0 (corresponding to a driving means in the present invention) is connected (a step motor, an ultrasonic motor or the like is also possible), and a pulley 31 is connected to the other end via a shaft 31a integrated with the pulley 31. A pulley 32 is connected to the other winding shaft 26 via a connecting shaft 32a integral therewith, and a wire 33 as a thread member is stretched between these pulleys 31 and 32. In this case, the winding direction of the wire 33 with respect to the pulleys 31 and 32 is
Is set to be opposite to the direction in which the film door 29 is wound by the winding shafts 25 and 26 corresponding to.

Therefore, when the winding shaft 25 and the pulley 31 are rotated in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 5 by the motor 30, the winding shaft 26 is wound on the winding shaft 25 as the film door 29 is wound. The pulley 32 is also rotated in the direction of arrow A, so that the pulley 32 winds up the wire 33 sent from the pulley 31. Conversely, when the take-up shaft 25 and the pulley 31 are rotated in the direction opposite to the arrow A by the motor 30, the pulley 32 and the take-up shaft 26 A will be rotated in the opposite direction,
The film door 29 is wound on the winding shaft 26. As a result, the film door 29 can be reciprocated in the forward and reverse directions by rotating the motor 30 forward and backward.

The construction of the pulleys 31 and 32 and the parts related thereto will be described below with reference to FIGS. Since the pulleys 31 and 32 have the same shape, the following description will focus on one pulley 31.

As shown in FIG. 4, the wire 33 is formed by connecting spherical metal terminal portions 33a, 33a to both ends by caulking, for example. In this case, the wire 33 is made of, for example, a stranded wire made of stainless steel, and its surface is coated with a resin such as a polyamide resin.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the pulley 31 (which is also the pulley 32), and FIG. 3 (a), (b) and (c).
2 shows the pulley 31 as viewed from above, from the front, and from below. 2 and 3, the pulley 31 is made of plastic such as, for example, acetal resin or polypropylene resin.
1a, a winding drum portion 34 provided concentrically with the winding shaft 25 for winding the wire 33, and a pair of wires 33 integrally provided on both sides of the winding drum portion 34 to prevent the wire 33 from coming off. And the flange portions 35 and 36 are integrally provided. In this case, the axial dimension of the winding drum 34 is the wire 3
3 is set to a size that can be wound more than once in an aligned state.

The winding body 34 of the pulley 31 has a wire 33
In order to hold the winding start end of the wire 33 by fitting the terminal portion 33a of the wire 33 from an arbitrary direction, a circular engaging concave portion 37 penetrating in a portion close to the peripheral surface in the axial direction is formed. The engagement concave portion 37 is opened in a slit shape extending in the axial direction on the peripheral surface of the winding drum portion 34. On the peripheral surface of the winding drum portion 34, a groove 34a along the one flange 35 and a groove 34b along the other flange 36 are formed from a position continuous with the engagement recess 37. Each is formed to extend in a different direction (FIG. 3
(A)). Further, slits 35a and 36a are formed in the flange portions 35 and 36 so as to communicate with the engagement recesses 37.

In this case, the terminal 33a of the wire 33 is inserted into the slit 35 with respect to the engagement recess 37 of the pulley 31.
a through the terminal portion 33
a, and the wire 33 is positioned so as to fit into the groove 34a in the locked state. In the other pulley 32, the terminal 3 of the wire 33
The wire 33 is positioned so as to fit into the other groove 34b in a state where the wire 3a is fitted and locked in the engaging recess 37.

The one flange portion 35 has a thick portion 35 bulging toward the other flange portion 36 by about a half circumference from the slit 35a toward the direction opposite to the groove portion 34a.
The thick portion 35b functions to prevent the wire 33 from overlapping when the wire 33 is wound around the winding drum portion 34. still,
A similar thick portion 36b is formed on the other flange portion 36, and when it is used as the pulley 32, it performs the same function as described above.

As shown in FIG. 1, when the wire 33 is wound on one side of the pulleys 31 and 32, for example, the wire 33 is wound on the pulley 31 side in the maximum amount. A tangent line S (see a two-dot chain line) connecting the winding body portion 34 and the winding body portions 34 of the pulleys 31 and 32 to each other (a portion corresponding to the groove portion 34b) is drawn out onto the winding body portion 34 on the side. The length dimension is set so as to be a position (including a position where the winding drum portion 34 and the common tangent line S are in contact) in a winding operation direction of the pulley 32 from a portion where the contact is made.

As a result of such a configuration, the wire 33
Does not bend greatly at the connection portion with the terminal portion 33a as in the conventional configuration, and there is no possibility that a large bending stress acts on the bent portion. Therefore, the life of the wire 33 can be extended. Further, in a state where the maximum amount of the wire is wound on one pulley side, no extra wire 33 remains on the winding drum section 34 on the other pulley side, and the length dimension of the wire 33 can be shortened as much as possible. Therefore, cost reduction can be realized. Furthermore, when the terminal portion 33a of the wire 33 is locked to the pulleys 31 and 32, it is only necessary to fit the terminal portion 33a of the wire 33 into the engagement concave portion 37. It's easy.

It should be noted that pulleys (not shown) connected to the winding shafts 20 and 21 corresponding to the film door 22 for the air mix and wires (not shown) wound between these pulleys are the same as those in the above embodiment. The configuration is adopted. In the above embodiment, the groove 34 is formed in the winding drum 34.
By providing the pulleys a and b, the pulleys 31 and 32 can be of the same shape.
It is good also as a structure provided with only one groove part for 1 and 32.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7 showing a second embodiment of the present invention, a wire 33 is attached to a winding drum 39 of a pulley 38.
The terminal portion 33a and its vicinity may be insert-molded to lock the terminal portion 33a to the pulley 38. According to such an embodiment, the shape of the pulley 38 can be simplified. As a result, the terminal portion 33a can be securely locked.

Further, in each of the above embodiments, one of the pair of winding shafts 20, 21 and 25, 26 is directly rotated by the motor 23 or 30.
For example, a wire (not shown) bridged between the winding shafts 20 and 21 and a wire 33 bridged between the winding shafts 25 and 26
Is directly driven by a feeder using a motor, so that both of the winding shafts 20, 21 and 25, 26 are indirectly driven to rotate.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. For example, the present invention is not limited to an air conditioner for an automobile, but can be widely applied to general equipment having a function of adjusting an opening degree of an air passage. However, various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0039]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a case where a thread-like member having terminals joined to both ends is bridged between a pair of pulleys using the terminal. In addition, the length dimension of the thread member,
With the maximum amount wound on one pulley side, the dimensions were set so that the connection part with the terminal part on the other pulley side was located on or near a common tangent connecting the winding drum parts of both pulleys. Thus, the length of the thread-like member can be shortened as much as possible while preventing a situation where a large bending stress is locally applied to the joint between the thread-like member and the terminal portion, and the life of the thread-like member can be extended. This has a beneficial effect that it can be achieved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the terminal portion of the thread-like member is engaged with the pulley by fitting the terminal portion into the engaging recess formed in the pulley. Process can be simplified.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the terminal portion of the thread-like member is insert-molded to the pulley to lock the terminal portion to the pulley, so that the shape of the pulley can be simplified and There is an advantage that the locked state can be ensured.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a pulley.

FIG. 3 is a top view, a front view, and a bottom view of the pulley.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a wire.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view schematically showing a main part of the automotive air conditioner with some parts omitted;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a schematic structure of an automotive air conditioner.

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 1 showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

In the drawing, 12 is a duct case, 18 is an air mix ventilation passage (air passage portion), 19 is a bypass ventilation passage (air passage portion), 20 and 21 are winding shafts, 22 is a film door (membrane member), 23 Is a motor (drive means), 25 and 26 are take-up shafts, 29 is a film door (membrane member), 30 is a motor (drive means), 31, 32, and 38 are pulleys, 33 is a wire (thread-like member), 34 , 39 indicate a winding drum portion, and 37 indicates an engagement concave portion.

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] A flexible film-like member that changes an opening degree of the air-passage according to movement in a state facing the air-passage; and a rotating member connected to both ends of the film-like member. A pair of winding shafts for winding the film-shaped member according to the above, a pair of pulleys respectively connected to the respective winding shafts and having a winding drum portion concentric with the winding shafts, and the respective winding shafts are interlocked. In order to rotate in a state, terminal portions connected to both ends are respectively engaged with the respective pulleys, and a thread-like member which is wound between the winding drum portions of the pulleys; and at least one of the winding shafts is rotated. Driving means for driving the film-shaped member to move the film-shaped member, wherein the thread-shaped member has a portion pulled out onto the winding drum portion on the other pulley side in a state of being wound up to a maximum amount on one pulley side. And the winding drum of the other pulley Air passage switching device, characterized in that it is set to the length dimension, such as exists in the winding direction of movement of the other pulley from the site where the common tangent contacts connecting the winding body of the over Li. 2. The air passage according to claim 1, wherein the terminal portion of the thread-like member is engaged with the pulley by fitting the terminal portion of the thread-like member into an engagement recess formed in the pulley. Switching device. 3. The air passage switching device according to claim 1, wherein the terminal portion of the thread-like member is insert-molded to the pulley to lock the terminal portion to the pulley.