JP6587535B2 - Piping structure of a vehicle air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a piping structure of a vehicle air conditioner, and more particularly to a piping structure of a vehicle air conditioner arranged on a ceiling.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration in which an air conditioner with a built-in heat exchanger is arranged at the center of the ceiling of a vehicle. In this case, the piping extending from the air conditioner, in particular the liquid tube and the suction tube for circulating the refrigerant to the heat exchanger, are extended downward along the pillar, and are arranged in the engine room or the like through the lower part of the vehicle body. Led to the compressor.

  On the other hand, as shown in Patent Document 2, a vehicle may be equipped with a curtain airbag for protecting a passenger's head in an emergency. The curtain airbag is disposed along the roof side rail of the vehicle.

  In the vicinity of a pillar (for example, a center pillar) of a vehicle, the curtain airbag is disposed so as to extend in a vehicle front-rear direction in a narrow space between a vehicle interior wall such as a pillar garnish or a roof head lining and a pillar inner panel.

  Curtain airbags need to be deployed in the form of curtains in the vehicle front-rear direction without interruption, and in the event of an emergency, they need to be deployed without problems even at the location where the center pillar is located. When the air conditioner is provided at the center of the ceiling of the vehicle, the liquid tube and the suction tube need to be routed so as to pass above the curtain airbag at the portion where the pillar is located.

  However, if no allowance is given, the curtain airbag must be lower than the liquid tube and suction tube in the vicinity of the pillar of the vehicle, especially in a vehicle with a low ceiling, the position of the curtain airbag is There arise problems that the head is too close to the occupant's head or that the appearance of the vehicle interior design deteriorates below the upper edge of the door opening.

JP-A-62-55213 JP 2008-62754 A

  The present invention has been conceived under the circumstances described above, and is capable of arranging a curtain airbag at an appropriate position in the vicinity of a pillar of a vehicle and is equipped with an air conditioner having a ceiling arrangement without any inconvenience. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle air conditioner piping structure that can be used.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention employs the following technical means.

  A piping structure of a vehicle air conditioner provided by the present invention is arranged between a pillar inner panel and a vehicle interior wall, and can be deployed downward while pushing the vehicle interior wall open to the vehicle interior side. And a pipe having one end connected to an air conditioner provided on the roof and passing behind the curtain airbag, wherein a part of the pipe in the longitudinal direction is positioned in a recess or opening formed in the pillar inner panel. The back of the curtain airbag is provided with a backup member that straddles the recess or opening and the pipe positioned in the recess or opening and regulates the deployment direction of the curtain airbag. .

  In such a configuration, since the air conditioner piping passes behind the curtain airbag, the air conditioner piping does not hinder the deployment of the curtain airbag. In addition, the air conditioner piping that passes behind the curtain airbag can be positioned in a recess or opening formed in the pillar inner panel, so the curtain airbag should be positioned at an appropriate distance from the occupant's head. Can do. Furthermore, since the backup member which straddles the recessed part or opening formed in the pillar inner panel and the piping located in the said recessed part or opening is provided, this backup member reinforces the pillar inner panel which formed the recessed part or opening. At the same time, the curtain airbag can be properly deployed downward so as not to interfere with the pillar garnish or the like.

  Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description given below with reference to the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a vehicle that employs a piping structure for a vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention as seen through from the left side of the vehicle. It is sectional drawing which follows the II-II line of FIG. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the structure shown in FIG. 2. It is sectional drawing which follows the IV-IV line of FIG.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

  1 to 4 show a drain structure of a vehicle air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle equipped with a curtain airbag 200 and having an air conditioner 100 installed on the ceiling as viewed from the left side of the vehicle. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. 1 and shows a cross section of the center pillar 420 on the left side of the vehicle. FIG. 3 shows an exploded perspective view of the structure shown in FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. In these drawings, UPR indicates the upper side of the vehicle, FR indicates the front of the vehicle, and LH indicates the right side of the vehicle.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in a cross section corresponding to the center pillar 420, the vehicle includes a roof portion 300 and a pillar portion 400 that extends to the side and extends downward. The roof portion 300 includes a vehicle body rigid member composed of a roof outer panel 310 and a roof inner panel 320, and a roof head lining 350 that forms a vehicle interior wall 600 inside the roof inner panel 320. The roof head lining 350 is, for example, a resin molded product. The pillar part 400 includes a pillar 420 as a vehicle body rigid member including a pillar outer panel 421 and a pillar inner panel 422 integrated with the roof side rail 410 connected to the roof outer panel 310 and the roof inner panel 320, and the pillar inner panel 422. And a pillar garnish 430 that covers the interior of the vehicle interior with a predetermined space therebetween and constitutes a wall of the vehicle interior 600. The pillar garnish 430 is, for example, a tree molding. The pillar outer panel 421 and the pillar inner panel 422 are joined together to form a closed cross section. Further, the terminal portion 351 in the vehicle width direction of the roof head lining 350 is extended outward in the vehicle width direction from the pillar garnish 430 while engaging with the upper end portion 431 of the pillar garnish 430.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the air conditioner 100 is disposed at the center in the vehicle width direction between the roof inner panel 320 and the roof head lining 350 so as to correspond to the position of the center pillar 420 in the front-rear direction. Yes. The air conditioner 100 has a heat exchanger (not shown) and a fan (not shown). The air in the passenger compartment sucked from the suction port (not shown) is passed through the heat exchanger to be cooled or heated to blow out the air ( Blow out from (not shown). The air conditioner 100 is connected with piping for circulating a refrigerant between a compressor (not shown) and a heat exchanger (not shown) arranged in the engine room, that is, a liquid tube 110 and a suction tube 120, and A drain pipe 140 for discharging water generated by condensation during cooling is connected.

  The liquid tube 110 and the suction tube 120 extend from the air conditioner 100 along the roof inner panel 320 in the vehicle width direction, bend downward at the side of the vehicle, extend downward along the center pillar 420, and extend below the floor panel 500. However, the present invention is characterized by the piping structure of the liquid tube and the suction tube, which will be described later.

  The curtain airbag 200 is obtained by folding an airbag element (not shown) into a cylindrical shape, and is disposed so as to extend in the front-rear direction along the roof side rail 410, and corresponds to the center pillar 420. Is located in the space between the pillar inner panel 422 and the roof head lining 350.

  As clearly shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the pillar inner panel 422 is formed with a recess 424 by partially recessing the pillar inner panel 422 outward in the vehicle width direction. The range in which the recess 424 is formed is a range where the liquid tube 110 and the suction tube 120 arranged in the vehicle longitudinal direction overlap in the vehicle longitudinal direction, and substantially overlaps with the curtain airbag 200 in the vehicle width direction. It is the range to do. In the recess 424, the liquid tube 110 bent so as to bypass the back of the curtain airbag 200 (outside in the vehicle width direction) and the bent portions 111 and 121 of the suction tube 120 are partially disposed. . In this embodiment, the recess 424 is provided in the pillar inner panel 422. However, instead of the recess 424, an opening is provided, and the liquid is bent so as to bypass the back of the curtain airbag 200 in the opening. The bent portions 111 and 121 of the tube 110 and the suction tube 120 may be arranged.

  2 to 4, reference numeral 210 denotes a substantially U-shaped section 211 having a cross section disposed between the curtain airbag 200 and the pillar inner panel 422 so as to hold the curtain airbag 200 from the outside in the vehicle width direction. It is a sheet metal backup member. The backup member 210 regulates the deployment direction of the curtain airbag 200 to a direction substantially toward the vehicle compartment, and avoids that the hard pillar garnish 430 becomes an obstacle to the deployment of the curtain airbag 200.

  The backup member 210 has a substantially U-shaped section 211 as described above so as to straddle the concave portion 424 of the pillar inner panel 422 and the bent portions 111 and 121 of the liquid tube 110 and the suction tube 120 located in the recess 424 in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body. The front portion 212 and the rear portion 213 are connected to the inner surface of the general portion of the pillar inner panel 422 by welding or the like. Since this backup member 210 has a substantially U-shaped portion 211 in cross section, its rigidity is high, and its pillar inner panel 422 is formed by connecting the pillar inner panel 422 to the front and rear portions to form a recess 424. It also has a role as a reinforcing member that compensates for a decrease in strength. In the case where the pillar inner panel 422 is provided with an opening in place of the recess 424 and the bent portions 111 and 121 of the liquid tube 110 and the suction tube 120 are disposed therein, the backup member 210 is similarly provided. Can do.

  Next, the operation of the piping structure of the vehicle air conditioner having the above configuration will be described.

  Since the liquid tube 110 and the suction tube 120 pass behind the curtain airbag 200 and the backup member 210, when the curtain airbag 200 is to be deployed in an emergency, the deployment force whose direction is regulated by the backup member 210 is roofed without any problem. The head lining 350 acts downward. The roof head lining 350 is formed of a relatively soft member such as a resin molded product, and the end in the vehicle width direction is merely engaged with the upper end of the pillar garnish 430. As shown by the phantom line in FIG. 2, the roof 200 can be deployed in the vehicle interior by pushing the roof head lining 350 downward by its deployment force.

  In the liquid tube 110 and the suction tube 120, the bent portions 111 and 121 that bypass the back of the curtain airbag 200 are disposed in the recess 424 of the pillar inner panel 422. It is possible to set an appropriate distance without being too close to the part.

  Further, the back-up member 210 has a role as a reinforcing member that compensates for a decrease in strength of the pillar inner panel 422 due to the formation of the recess 424 by connecting the front and rear portions thereof to the pillar inner panel 422.

  As described above, the curtain airbag 200 can be disposed at an appropriate position in the vicinity of the pillar of the vehicle, and the roof portion 300 can be equipped with an air conditioner without any inconvenience.

  Of course, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and all modifications within the scope of the matters described in the claims are included in the scope of the present invention.

A1 Piping structure 100 Air conditioner 110 Liquid tube 111 Bending part 120 Suction tube 121 Bending part 130 Drain port 140 Drain piping 200 Curtain airbag 210 Backup member 211 Cross section substantially U-shaped part 212 Front part 213 Rear part 300 Roof part 310 Roof outer panel 320 Roof inner panel 350 Roof head lining 351 Terminal section 400 Pillar section 410 Roof side rail 420 Pillar (center pillar)
421 Pillar outer panel 422 Pillar inner panel 423 Reinforcement panel 424 Recess 430 Pillar garnish 431 Upper end 500 Floor panel 600 Car interior wall

Claims (1)

One end is connected between a curtain airbag disposed between the pillar inner panel and the vehicle interior wall, which can be deployed downward while pushing the vehicle interior wall open toward the vehicle interior, and an air conditioner provided on the roof, A pipe passing behind the curtain airbag,
Positioning a part of the longitudinal direction of the pipe in a recess or opening formed in the pillar inner panel,
The back of the curtain airbag is provided with a backup member that straddles the recess or opening, and the piping positioned in the recess or opening, and regulates the deployment direction of the curtain airbag. Piping structure of a vehicle air conditioner.

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