JP4561617B2 - Swing register for vehicle air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a swing register of a vehicle air conditioner that periodically changes the wind direction by swinging a wind direction blade by driving an actuator.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a vehicle air conditioner is known in which a swing register in which a wind direction blade is swung by an actuator so as to automatically change a wind direction periodically at a blower outlet of a vehicle interior is known.

For example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, a driving motor such as a stepping motor or a DC motor is generally used as an actuator for such a swing register. The wind direction blade is oscillated based on the rotational drive.
Japanese Patent No. 3326409

  However, since the driving noise is generated from the drive motor along with the swing of the wind direction blade, it has an effect on the quietness in the passenger compartment, and a measure for adding a quieter configuration is particularly added to vehicles that require a high level of quietness. Is required. Further, since the drive motor is complicated and heavy, it is difficult to reduce the size and weight of the actuator (drive source).

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a swing register for a vehicle air conditioner that is small, light, and highly quiet.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention according to claim 1 is a swing register of a vehicle air conditioner that periodically changes the wind direction by swinging a wind direction blade from the air outlet to the vehicle interior side. T A drive unit using a dielectric elastomer that contracts and expands based on voltage application / non-application, and includes an actuator configured to oscillate the wind direction blade based on contraction / extension operation of the drive unit , The drive unit is composed of a pair of first and second drive units, and cooperates via the output unit so that the contraction force of one drive unit becomes the extension force of the other drive unit, and the output The both ends of the part are connected to the first and second driving parts, respectively, and are configured to reciprocate linearly, and are arranged so that the operation direction is orthogonal to the rotational axis direction of the wind direction blade. The gist of the invention is that an actuating mechanism is provided between the output portion of the actuator and the wind direction blade to transmit a driving force by gear coupling using at least one gear member .

  According to this configuration, the dielectric elastomer is used for the actuator drive unit, and the wind direction blade is oscillated by the contraction / extension of the drive unit. In other words, the drive unit made of a dielectric elastomer does not generate an operating noise when the wind direction blade is swung, so that the quietness can be improved. In addition, since the dielectric elastomer is composed of an elastomer body that is an elastic body and a pair of flexible electrodes, the configuration is simple and can be reduced in size and can be configured lighter.

The actuator has a pair of first and second drive units, and is configured to perform a cooperative operation so that the contraction force of one drive unit becomes the extension force of the other drive unit. In other words, since the operating speed of the drive unit made of dielectric elastomer is not the same when contracted and extended, by operating in a coordinated manner so that the contraction force of one drive unit becomes the extension force of the other drive unit, The operation mode at the time of expansion can be made the same. Thereby, the swing of the wind direction blade becomes smooth.

And since an output part is comprised so that an output part may perform reciprocating linear motion, the structure of an actuator can be made simpler .

Furthermore , since the output part of the actuator performs a reciprocating linear motion, by making the operation direction of the output shaft orthogonal to the rotational axis direction of the wind direction blade, the output part that performs the reciprocating linear motion performs a swinging motion. The drive transmission to the wind direction blade to perform can be performed easily.

In addition , an operating mechanism using at least one gear member is provided between the output portion of the actuator and the wind direction blade. Thereby, for example, by changing the diameter and the number of teeth of the gear member of the operating mechanism without changing the configuration of the actuator, the swing range of the wind direction blade can be changed, and the correspondence for each vehicle type becomes easy. Has an effect.

  Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a swing register for a vehicle air conditioner that is small, light and highly quiet.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, an instrument panel 11 is provided in the front part of the interior of the automobile. The instrument panel 11 is provided with a duct (not shown) constituting an air passage, and the duct is provided with a vehicle air conditioner (not shown) for air conditioning the vehicle interior.

  In the central portion of the instrument panel 11 (between the driver seat A1 and the passenger seat A2), there are provided two air outlets 12 set to a height at which air can be sent to the upper body side of the passenger. Yes. Similarly, both sides of the instrument panel 11 (the door side of the driver seat A1 and the passenger seat A2) are each provided with one air outlet 13 set at the same height as the air outlet 12 on the center side. (Only the passenger seat A2 side is shown in FIG. 1). Incidentally, the lower part of the instrument panel 11 is provided with air outlets (not shown) through which air can be sent to the feet of passengers seated in the driver seat A1 and the passenger seat A2, respectively.

  As shown in FIG. 3, in each outlet 12 provided in the center of the instrument panel 11, a swing register 15 is provided that automatically and periodically changes the direction of the air flow. The swing register 15 includes a vertical wind direction blade 16 that swings to change the wind direction, an actuator 17 as a drive source, and an operating mechanism 18 that swings the vertical wind direction blade 16 based on the driving of the actuator 17. Prepare.

  The vertical wind direction blades 16 have support shafts 16a extending in the vertical direction. The support shafts 16a are mounted on the upper and lower inner wall surfaces of the outlet passage 14 of the duct and supported so as to be swingable in the left-right direction. Yes. The vertical wind direction blade 16 is provided with a gear portion 16b having a sector shape in the swinging direction of the blade 16 on the base end side (opposite exit side) from the support shaft 16a. The driving force from the actuator 17 is transmitted.

  The actuator 17 includes first and second drive units 21 and 22 and an output rod 23. The 1st and 2nd drive parts 21 and 22 are comprised with the dielectric elastomer as shown in FIG.

  Specifically, the first and second drive units 21 and 22 made of dielectric elastomer are respectively provided on the elastomer bodies 21a and 22a, which are elastic bodies, and both end faces in the thickness direction of the elastomer bodies 21a and 22a. And electrodes 21b and 22b. When a voltage is applied to the opposing electrodes 21b and 22b through the elastomer bodies 21a and 22a and a potential difference is generated between the electrodes 21b and 22b, an electrostatic force is generated so that the electrodes 21b and 22b attract each other. As a result, the elastomer bodies 21a, 22a between the electrodes 21b, 22b are pressed against the elastic force in the thickness direction and contracted, and the area viewed from the electrodes 21b, 22b side is expanded along with the contraction. It deforms as follows. On the other hand, when no voltage is applied, no electrostatic force is generated in the electrodes 21b and 22b, so that they are expanded by the elastic force of the elastomer bodies 21a and 22a to return to their original shapes.

  The first and second drive units 21 and 22 are arranged so as to be opposed to each other in a telescopic direction with a predetermined interval therebetween, and both ends of the output rod 23 are connected to the drive units 21 and 22, respectively. The actuator 17 is configured, and the actuator 17 is attached to the duct outlet passage 14 so that the axial direction of the output rod 23 is the left-right direction (vehicle width direction). The actuator 17 is alternately contracted by applying a voltage to the first and second driving units 21 and 22 from the controller 30 alternately, and performs a reciprocating linear motion of the output rod 23.

  Here, since the elastic restoring force of each of the drive units 21 and 22 is smaller than the contraction force, the expansion speed is slower than the contraction speed. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the drive units 21 and 22 are provided in pairs, and the controller 30 contracts the second drive unit 22 when the first drive unit 21 expands, and the second drive unit 22 expands when the second drive unit 22 extends. 1 The drive unit 21 is operated so as to complement each other such as contracting, and the forward movement and the backward movement of the output rod 23 of the actuator 17 are operated in the same manner. The output rod 23 of the actuator 17 operating in this way is drivingly connected to the operating mechanism 18.

  The operating mechanism 18 is interposed between the actuator 17 and the vertical wind direction blade 16 and includes a movable rack 25 and a rotating gear 26. The movable rack 25 has a connecting pin 25a. The connecting pin 25a is connected to the output rod 23, and a reciprocating linear motion in the left-right direction is performed together with the output rod 23. The tooth portion of the movable rack 25 is meshed with a rotating gear 26 having a tooth portion on the outer peripheral surface. The rotation gear 26 is rotatably supported by support shafts 26a extending in the vertical direction. The tooth portion of the rotating gear 26 is engaged with the gear portion 16b of the vertical wind direction blade 16 on the opposite side of the portion engaged with the movable rack 25 and the support shaft 26a. When the movable rack 25 reciprocates together with the output rod 23, the rotating gear 26 reciprocates at a predetermined angle, and the vertical wind direction blade 16 swings at a predetermined angle by the reciprocating rotation of the rotating gear 26.

  In the swing register 15 of the present embodiment configured as described above, when a command for automatically changing the wind direction is automatically input to the controller 30 in accordance with the operation of the air conditioner, the controller 30 The drive units 21 and 22 are driven alternately. As a result, the output rod 23 reciprocates, the movable rack 25 reciprocates together with the output rod 23, and the rotation gear 26 rotates. The vertical wind direction blade 16 is swung by the rotation of the rotation gear 26 so that the wind direction is periodically changed.

Next, characteristic actions and effects of the present embodiment will be described.
(1) In the actuator 17 of the present embodiment, the drive units 21 and 22 are made of a dielectric elastomer, and the vertical wind direction blade 16 is swung by contraction / extension of the drive units 21 and 22. It is configured. That is, since the drive parts 21 and 22 made of dielectric elastomer do not generate an operating sound when the vertical wind direction blade 16 is swung, the quietness can be improved. In addition, the drive units 21 and 22 made of dielectric elastomer are composed of elastomer bodies 21a and 22a, which are elastic bodies, and a pair of flexible electrodes 21b and 22b. Can be configured.

  (2) The actuator 17 according to the present embodiment has a pair of first and second drive units 21 and 22, and the contraction force of one drive unit 21 (22) is the force of the other drive unit 22 (21). It is configured to operate in a coordinated manner so as to provide an extension force. That is, since the operating speeds of the drive units 21 and 22 made of dielectric elastomer are not the same when contracted and expanded, the contraction force of one drive unit 21 (22) is equal to the expansion force of the other drive unit 22 (21). By performing the cooperative operation as described above, the operation modes at the time of contraction and expansion can be made the same. Thereby, the vertical wind direction blade 16 is smoothly swung.

(3) Since the actuator 17 of the present embodiment is configured such that the output rod 23 performs a reciprocating linear motion, the configuration of the actuator 17 can be further simplified.
(4) The actuator 17 of the present embodiment is arranged so that the operating direction of the output rod 23 is orthogonal to the direction of the rotating shaft (support shaft 16a) of the vertical wind direction blade 16. That is, since the output rod 23 of the actuator 17 performs reciprocating linear motion, the output rod 23 performs reciprocating linear motion by making the operation direction of the output rod 23 orthogonal to the rotational axis direction of the vertical wind direction blade 16. The drive transmission from the rod 23 to the vertical wind direction blade 16 performing the swinging motion can be easily performed.

  (5) In the present embodiment, an operating mechanism 18 is provided between the output rod 23 of the actuator 17 and the vertical wind direction blade 16, and includes a gear connection using a movable rack 25 and a rotating gear 26. Thus, for example, the swing range of the vertical wind direction blade 16 can be changed by changing the diameter and the number of teeth of the rotating gear 26 of the operating mechanism 18 without changing the configuration of the actuator 17. This has the effect of facilitating the correspondence.

The embodiment of the present invention may be modified as follows.
· Yuden elastomer consisting drive unit 21, 22 is not limited to the rectangular shape as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the shape may be changed as appropriate. For example, the amount of deformation of the elastomer may be increased by using a dielectric elastomer as a coil shape or a meandering shape. Further, the expansion and contraction in the opposing direction of the electrodes 21b and 22b of the drive units 21 and 22 made of a dielectric elastomer was taken out as an output, but the deformation in the expansion / contraction direction of the area viewed from the electrodes 21b and 22b side was taken out as an output. May be.

  In the above-described embodiment, the vertical wind direction blade 16 that swings in the left-right direction is provided in the air outlet 12, and the vertical wind direction blade 16 is driven, but the horizontal type that swings in the vertical direction in the air outlet About what provided the wind direction blade, it is good also considering the horizontal type wind direction blade as a drive object. Moreover, about what equips a blower outlet with both wind direction blades, you may make both into a drive object.

  In the above embodiment, the swing register 15 is provided in the air outlet 12 provided in the center of the instrument panel 11, but the air outlet on the side (door side) of the instrument panel 11 and the passenger in the rear seat A swing register may be provided at the air outlet for the rear seat that blows air.

It is a perspective view which shows the vehicle interior in which the vehicle air conditioner of this Embodiment is provided. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the dielectric elastomer used for an actuator. It is a schematic block diagram for demonstrating a swing register.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 ... Air outlet, 15 ... Swing register, 16 ... Vertical wind direction blade as a wind direction blade, 16a ... Support shaft as a rotating shaft, 17 ... Actuator, 18 ... Actuation mechanism, 21 ... 1st drive part as a drive part , 22 ... a second drive unit as a drive unit, 23 ... an output rod as an output unit, 26 ... a rotating gear as a gear member.

Claims (1)

It is a swing register of a vehicle air conditioner that periodically changes the wind direction by swinging a wind direction blade for blowing air from the air outlet to the vehicle interior side,
It has a drive unit using a dielectric elastomer that contracts and expands based on voltage application / non-application, and includes an actuator configured to swing the wind direction blade based on the contraction / extension operation of the drive unit ,
The drive unit is composed of a pair of first and second drive units, and cooperates via an output unit so that the contraction force of one drive unit becomes the extension force of the other drive unit,
The output unit is configured such that both ends thereof are connected to the first and second driving units to reciprocate linearly, and the operation direction thereof is orthogonal to the rotational axis direction of the wind direction blade. Arranged,
A swing of a vehicle air conditioner is provided between the output portion of the actuator and the wind direction blade, wherein an operating mechanism for transmitting a driving force by a gear connection using at least one gear member is provided. Register .

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