Vehicle HVAC airflow system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11104202-B2
Application number	US-201816164452-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 18, 2018
Priority date	Oct 18, 2018
Publication date	Aug 31, 2021
Grant date	Aug 31, 2021

Abstract

A vehicle airflow system includes a centrifugal fan and an air diffuser. The centrifugal fan is configured to direct air radially outward from a rotational axis of the fan. The air diffuser has a plurality of air deflectors that are disposed radially about the fan. The air deflectors have curved surfaces. Each curved surface defines an airflow channel that has an inlet extending radially outward from a periphery of the centrifugal fan and an outlet extending axially away from the diffuser relative to the rotational axis of the fan.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle ventilation system comprising:
a centrifugal fan configured to direct air radially outward from a rotational axis of the fan; and
an air diffuser having a plurality of air deflectors disposed radially about the fan, the air deflectors having curved surfaces, each curved surface defining an airflow channel that has an inlet extending radially outward from a periphery of the centrifugal fan and an outlet extending substantially parallel to the rotational axis of the fan, wherein the curved surfaces are comprised of two or more layers of curved surfaces that are stacked and aligned in columns that extend in a direction that is substantially parallel to the rotational axis of the fan, wherein the curved surfaces in each column define separate airflow channels, wherein the two or more layers of curved surfaces are stacked such that the curved surfaces in each column are substantially parallel relative to each other from the inlets to the outlets of the airflow channels in each respective column, wherein the air diffuser further comprises primary divider walls that partition the curved surfaces into sets of four curved surfaces, and wherein each set of four curved surfaces forms two of the columns, a top row, and a bottom row.

2. The vehicle ventilation system of claim 1 , wherein cross-sectional areas of the inlets are oriented substantially perpendicular to the air flowing radially outward from the fan.

3. The vehicle ventilation system of claim 1 , wherein the curved surfaces in each bottom row in each set of four curved surfaces are partitioned by a secondary divider wall that is shorter in length than the primary divider walls.

4. The vehicle ventilation system of claim 3 , wherein the curved surfaces in each top row in each set of four curved surfaces are offset and not partitioned relative to each other.

5. An air diffuser comprising:
a housing defining an internal cavity configured to receive a centrifugal fan; and
a plurality of air deflectors disposed internally within the housing and radially about the internal cavity, the air deflectors having curved surfaces, each curved surface defining an airflow channel that has an inlet extending radially outward from the internal cavity and an outlet extending substantially parallel to a rotational axis of the fan, wherein the curved surfaces are comprised of two or more layers of curved surfaces that are stacked and aligned in columns that extend in a direction that is substantially parallel to the rotational axis of the fan, wherein the curved surfaces in each column define separate airflow channels, wherein the two or more layers of curved surfaces are stacked such that the curved surfaces in each column are substantially parallel relative to each other from the inlets to the outlets of the airflow channels in each respective column; and
primary divider walls that partition the curved surfaces into sets of four curved surfaces, wherein each set of four curved surfaces forms two of the columns, a top row, and a bottom row.

6. The air diffuser of claim 5 , wherein cross-sectional areas of the inlets are oriented substantially perpendicular to the air flowing radially outward from the fan.

7. The air diffuser of claim 5 , wherein the curved surfaces in each bottom row in each set of four curved surfaces are partitioned by a secondary divider wall that is shorter in length than the primary divider walls.

8. The air diffuser of claim 7 , wherein the curved surfaces in each top row in each set of four curved surfaces are offset and not partitioned relative to each other.

9. An airflow system comprising:
a centrifugal fan configured to direct air radially outward from a rotational axis of the fan; and
an air diffuser having a plurality of air deflectors disposed radially about the fan, the air deflectors having curved surfaces that extend radially inward toward the fan along a first end and substantially parallel to the rotational axis along a second end, the first end being adjacent to an outer periphery of the fan, wherein the curved surfaces are comprised of two or more layers of curved surfaces that are stacked and aligned in columns that extend in a direction that is substantially parallel to the rotational axis of the fan, wherein the curved surfaces in each column define separate airflow channels, wherein the two or more layers of curved surfaces are stacked such that the curved surfaces in each column are substantially parallel relative to each other from the first end to the second end in each respective column, wherein the air diffuser further comprises primary divider walls that partition the curved surfaces into sets of four curved surfaces, and wherein each set of four curved surfaces forms two of the columns, a top row, and a bottom row.

10. The airflow system of claim 9 , wherein the curved surfaces in each bottom row in each set of four curved surfaces are partitioned by a secondary divider wall that is shorter in length than the primary divider walls.

11. The airflow system of claim 10 , wherein the curved surfaces in each top row in each set of four curved surfaces are offset and not partitioned relative to each other.

Assignees

• Denso Int America Inc
• Denso Corp

Inventors

• Stabile Kyle
• Belanger Brian
• Spunar Nicholaus
• Chen Xiaomin

Classifications

• F04D17/165 Primary

  Axial entry and discharge · CPC title

• F04D17/10

  for compressing or evacuating · CPC title

• B60H1/00471 Primary

  The ventilator being of the radial type, i.e. with radial expulsion of the air · CPC title

• B60H1/00464

  The ventilator being of the axial type · CPC title

• F04D29/441

  especially adapted for elastic fluid pumps · CPC title