JP3351364B2 - Vehicle air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to common use of engine cooling water piping in a vehicle air conditioner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An air conditioner for a vehicle has an outdoor unit such as a refrigerating device mounted in an engine room, and an indoor unit including a blower unit, a cooling unit, a heater unit and the like. The heater unit includes a heat exchanger (heater core) that uses the engine cooling water as a heat source. The cooling water is supplied to the heater core through a cooling water pipe by a water pump of the engine, and is returned to the engine. In the engine room, devices such as an idle speed controller for preventing freezing using the engine cooling water as a heat source are mounted, and a branch pipe branched from the cooling water pipe is also provided.

In the engine room, a rubber hose, a resin pipe, or a metal pipe is used as a cooling water pipe. A heater core disposed on the vehicle interior side has an inlet pipe and an outlet pipe made of a metal pipe fixed to a heater unit. Is connected. A cooling water pipe in the engine room and an inlet pipe and an outlet pipe fixed to the heater unit are connected by a rubber hose and are fastened by clips. In addition, the inlet pipe and the outlet pipe are arranged so as to pass through through holes in a partition plate (dash) between the vehicle compartment and the engine room, and a grommet is fitted into the through hole to seal.

[0004] Depending on the destination of the vehicle, some heater units of a vehicle air conditioner are equipped with a heater core and others are not. When the heat source of the engine cooling water is used only for heating the passenger compartment, there is no branch pipe branched from the cooling water pipe, and only the water jacket of the engine and the heater core are connected by the cooling water pipe. Therefore, in the specification without the heater core, the cooling water pipe is abolished, and only the blind water outlet and the return port to the heater core of the engine need to be fitted with blind plugs.

[0005]

However, in the case where there is a branch pipe branched from a cooling water pipe connecting the engine and the heater core to prevent freezing of an idle speed controller or the like, a cooling system without a heater core is required. The layout is different from that of the cooling water pipe with the water pipe and the heater core, and the parts and their assembly cannot be shared with or without the heater core. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner for a vehicle in which a heater unit having a heater core and a heater unit having no heater core are selectively mounted, and a vehicle air conditioner capable of sharing parts and assembling work. In providing the equipment.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems [Claim 1] Of the cooling water pipes for circulating the engine cooling water to the heater core, the cooling water pipes in the engine room are shared, and the cooling water pipes in the vehicle interior are provided with heaters. In the case of the specification having a core, the inlet pipe connected to the inlet of the cooling water of the heater core and the outlet pipe connected to the outlet of the cooling water of the heater core are connected to the cooling water pipe in the engine room, respectively. In the case of the specification without, the outlet pipe and the inlet pipe are connected by a reflux pipe.

Thus, the cooling water pipes in the engine room of the vehicle air conditioner having the heater unit without the heater core and the vehicle air conditioner having the heater unit with the heater core are almost completely provided. Can be identified. Therefore, the components used for the cooling water pipe can be shared and the assembly process can be shared reliably. In addition, the method of connecting the supply side and the return side of the cooling water to the heater core of the cooling water pipe with the return pipe in the engine room is as follows.
This is disadvantageous as compared with the present invention, for example, because it is necessary to clamp the reflux tube portion where the specification is difficult to change. [Claim 2] When the inlet pipe, the reflux pipe, and the outlet pipe are formed by a substantially U-shaped integral pipe, it is advantageous from the viewpoint of reducing the mounting property and the flow resistance. [Claim 3] The cooling water pipe in the engine room may have a branch pipe connected to a device different from the heater core.

[0008]

FIG. 1 shows an indoor unit 1 of an air conditioner equipped with a heater core and mounted at the front of a passenger compartment of an automobile. The indoor unit 1 includes an inside air / outside air switching box 2 in which an inside air / outside air switching door is disposed in a duct 23 having an indoor air suction port 21 and an outdoor air suction port 22. A blower unit 3 in which a centrifugal fan is arranged in a scroll casing 31 and a motor 32 for driving the fan is attached below the lower surface of the inside air / outside air switching box 2 is connected.

On the side of the blower unit 3, an evaporator and an air mixing door are arranged in an air conditioning duct 41 connected to the blower outlet 33, and a cooling unit 4 for circulating the refrigerant from the on-board refrigeration system to the evaporator is connected. ing. A heater unit 50 is connected to the downstream side of the cooling unit 4. Heater unit 5
No. 0 has a structure in which the heater core 5 is accommodated in a heater duct 54 having a face outlet 51, a foot outlet 52, and a defroster outlet 53.

In the heater core 5, cooling water is circulated from a water jacket of a cold engine via a cooling water pipe 6. The heater core 5 is a heat exchanger that uses the cooling water of the engine as a heat source. The cooling water is supplied to the heater core 5 through a cooling water pipe 6 by a water pump mounted on the engine, and is returned to the engine. As the cooling water pipe 6, rubber hoses or metal pipes are used as the cooling water pipes 61 and 62 in the engine room, and the cooling water pipes 61 and 62 have branch pipes 63 and 64 for circulating the cooling water to the idling speed controller. Is provided.

The heater core 5 has a cooling water pipe connecting portion 55 of the heater core 5 projecting upward from the heater duct 54. A cooling water inlet pipe 65 and a cooling water outlet pipe 66 made of metal pipes are connected to the cooling water pipe connecting portion 55. The inlet pipe 65 and the outlet pipe 66 are fixed to the upper surface of the heater duct 54 by a bracket 56.

The inlet pipe 65 and the outlet pipe 66 are arranged so as to pass through through holes of a partition plate (dash) between a vehicle compartment and an engine room, and have a grommet 12 for closing a gap. Cooling water pipe 6 in the engine room
Rubber hoses 67 and 68 are used to connect the distal ends of the pipes 1 and 62 to the inlet pipe 65 and the outlet pipe 66, and clips 69 and 6 are used.
9 is tightened.

FIG. 2 shows a heater unit 10 of a vehicle air conditioner having no heater core 5. In this configuration, the bracket 56 of the inlet pipe 65 and the outlet pipe 66
The U-shaped recirculation tube 60 integrates the distal end side of the fixing portion by the U-shape into a substantially U-shaped tube 7. With this configuration, the cooling water piping parts are shared and assembled between the heater unit 10 of the vehicle air conditioner having no heater core 5 and the heater unit 50 of the vehicle air conditioner having the heater core 5. It is possible to achieve commonality of attachments and common layout.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an air conditioning unit of a vehicle air conditioner having a heater core.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an air conditioning unit of the vehicle air conditioner having no heater core.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Air-conditioning unit 2 Inside air / outside air switching box 3 Blower unit 4 Cooling unit 5 Heater core 6 Cooling water pipe 7 Substantially U-shaped pipe 10 Heater unit 12 Grommet 50 Heater unit 60 Reflux pipe 65 Inlet pipe 66 Outlet pipe

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60H 1/08 611 B60H 1/00 102

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A vehicle air conditioner selectively provided with two types of heater units, a specification having a heater core and a specification without a heater core, wherein a cooling water pipe for circulating engine cooling water to the heater core is provided. In the case of a specification having the heater core, an inlet pipe connected to an inlet of cooling water of the heater core; and The outlet pipes connected to the cooling water outlets are respectively connected to the cooling water pipes in the engine room. In a case where the heater core is not provided, the outlet pipes and the inlet pipes are connected by a reflux pipe. An air conditioner for a vehicle. 2. The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the inlet pipe, the return pipe, and the outlet pipe are substantially U-shaped.
An air conditioner for a vehicle, wherein the air conditioner is an integral pipe having a character shape. 3. A cooling water pipe in the engine room,
The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1, further comprising a branch pipe connected to a device different from the heater core.