Vehicle air-conditioning unit

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10099535-B2
Application number	US-201515128606-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 16, 2015
Priority date	Mar 26, 2014
Publication date	Oct 16, 2018
Grant date	Oct 16, 2018

Abstract

An air conditioning case includes a first partition wall that receives a condensed water generated by an evaporator, and the first partition wall is disposed above an overlapped portion of a heater core and between the evaporator and the heater core. Therefore, the first partition wall can prevent the condensed water dropped from the evaporator from being applied directly to the heater core. As a result, in a structure in which at least a portion of the heater core overlaps with the evaporator from below, the condensed water of the evaporator is less likely to be applied to the heater core.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle air conditioning unit comprising:
an air conditioning case that circulates an air into a vehicle interior;
a cooler disposed in the air conditioning case, the cooler cooling the air flowing in the air conditioning case; and
a heater disposed in the air conditioning case, the heater heating the air flowing out of the cooler, wherein
the heater includes an overlapped portion disposed to overlap with the cooler from below in a vertical direction of the vehicle, the overlapped portion being at least a portion of the heater,
the air conditioning case includes a first case wall that receives a condensed water generated by the cooler, the first case wall being disposed above the overlapped portion of the heater and being disposed between the heater and the cooler,
the air flows in the air conditioning case in an air flow direction orthogonal to the vertical direction,
the cooler includes an upper end and a lower end, the upper end being disposed in an inclined manner with respect to the vertical direction such that the upper end is offset downstream in the air flow direction within the air conditioning case as compared to the lower end,
the heater is disposed so as to be inclined in a same direction as the cooler,
the first case wall is disposed such that a portion or all of the first case wall is interposed, in a horizontal direction of the vehicle, between a most downstream end located on a most downstream side of the upper end of the cooler in the air flow direction and a most upstream end located on a most upstream side of a lower end of the heater in the air flow direction,
the air conditioning case further includes a second case wall disposed downstream of the heater in the air flow direction, and
the first case wall and the second case wall divide an inside of the air conditioning case vertically to define a first airflow passage and a second airflow passage, the air flowing in the air flow direction through the first airflow passage and the second airflow passage, the second airflow passage being disposed below the first airflow passage.

2. The vehicle air conditioning unit according to claim 1 , wherein
the first case wall includes an upper wall surface, the upper wall surface being on an upper side of the first case wall, and
the upper wall surface includes an up-down component configured such that a downstream side thereof is positioned higher than an upstream side thereof in the air flow direction.

3. The vehicle air conditioning unit according to claim 2 , wherein
the upper wall surface includes an upstream end that is coupled with the upstream side of the up-down component in the air flow direction, and
the upstream end of the upper wall surface is disposed at a position lower than a portion located uppermost in the up-down component, and is disposed at a position offset from the heater in the horizontal direction.

4. The vehicle air conditioning unit according to claim 3 , wherein
the portion located uppermost in the up-down component is located downstream of the most downstream end of the cooler in the air flow direction.

5. The vehicle air conditioning unit according to claim 1 , wherein
the heater is positioned to extend across the first airflow passage and the second airflow passage, the heater including a first heating portion disposed in the first airflow passage and a second heating portion disposed in the second airflow passage,
the first airflow passage includes a first bypass passage that allows the air flowing through the cooler to bypass the first heating portion, the first bypass passage being disposed above the first heating portion, and
the second airflow passage includes a second bypass passage that allows the air flowing through the cooler to bypass the second heating portion, the second bypass passage being disposed below the second heating portion.

6. The vehicle air conditioning unit according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a door provided in the second airflow passage separately from the first case wall and the second case wall, wherein
the door is configured to receive the condensed water dropping from the first case wall.

7. The vehicle air conditioning unit according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a first door provided in the second airflow passage separately from and below the first case wall and the second case wall, the first door is configured to receive the condensed water dropping from the first case wall; and
a second door provided in the first airflow passage separately from and above the first case wall and the second case wall.

8. A vehicle air conditioning unit comprising:
an air conditioning case that circulates an air into a vehicle interior;
a cooler disposed in the air conditioning case, the cooler cooling the air flowing in the air conditioning case; and
a heater disposed in the air conditioning case, the heater heating the air flowing out of the cooler, wherein
the heater includes an overlapped portion disposed to overlap with the cooler from below in a vertical direction of the vehicle, the overlapped portion being at least a portion of the heater,
the air conditioning case includes a first case wall that receives a condensed water generated by the cooler, the first case wall being disposed above the overlapped portion of the heater and being disposed between the heater and the cooler,
the air flows in the air conditioning case in an air flow direction orthogonal to the vertical direction,
the cooler and the heater are disposed so as to be inclined with respect to the air flow direction within the air conditioning case,
the first case wall is disposed such that a portion or all of the first case wall is interposed, in the horizontal direction of the vehicle, between a most downstream end of the cooler in the air flow direction and a most upstream end of the heater in the air flow direction, and
the first case wall divides an inside of the air conditioning case vertically to define a first airflow passage and a second airflow passage, the air flowing in the air flow direction through the first airflow passage and the second airflow passage, the second airflow passage being disposed below the first airflow passage.

9. The vehicle air conditioning unit according to claim 8 , further comprising:
a door provided in the second airflow passage separately from the first case wall, wherein
the door is configured to receive the condensed water dropping from the first case wall.

10. The vehicle air conditioning unit according to claim 8 , further comprising:
a first door provided in the second airflow passage separately from and below the first case wall, the first door is configured to receive the condensed water dropping from the first case wall; and
a second door provided in the first airflow passage separately from and above the first case wall.

11. A vehicle air conditioning unit comprising:
an air conditioning case that circulates an air into a vehicle interior;
a cooler disposed in the air conditioning case, the cooler cooling the air flowing in the air conditioning case; and
a heater disposed in the air conditioning case, the heater heating the air flowing out of the cooler, wherein
the heater includes an overlapped portion disposed to overlap with the cooler from below in a vertical direction of the vehicle, the overlapped portion being at least a portion of the heater,
the air conditioning case includes a first case wall that receives a condensed water generated by the cooler, the first case wall being disposed above the overlapped portion of the heater and being disposed between the heater and the cooler,
the first case wall divides an inside of the air

Assignees

• Denso Corp

Inventors

• Sekito Yasuhiro
• Ishiguro Syunsuke
• Kato Shinya

Classifications

• B60H1/00064

  for sending air streams of different temperatures into the passenger compartment · CPC title

• B60H1/00678

  the axis of rotation being in the door plane, e.g. butterfly doors · CPC title

• B60H1/3233 Primary

  characterised by condensed liquid drainage means · CPC title

• B60H2001/00135

  Deviding walls for separate air flows · CPC title

• B60H1/12

  using an air blower · CPC title