Air conditioner for vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016144685-A1
Application number	US-201414904902-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 19, 2014
Priority date	Jul 18, 2013
Publication date	May 26, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

An air conditioner for a vehicle includes: a casing; an air blower; and a mode switching portion switching an inlet mode to draw air into the casing and an outlet mode to blow out air to the vehicle interior. The casing has a driver seat inlet port from which air in a space adjacent to a driver seat is drawn in. The mode switching portion is configured to be switchable between a normal mode during which air drawn in from at least one of air inlets is blown out from both of a driver seat outlet and a passenger seat outlet and a driver seat mode during which air drawn in from the driver seat inlet port is blown out from the driver seat outlet. The driver seat inlet port is located in a region exposed to the space adjacent to the driver seat.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An air conditioner for a vehicle having a driver seat outlet from which air is blown out toward a driver seat in a vehicle interior and a passenger seat outlet from which air is blown out toward a passenger seat in the vehicle interior, the air conditioner comprising:
a casing forming an outer shape; an air blower stored in the casing to blow air to the vehicle interior by drawing in air from at least one of a plurality of air inlets defined in the casing; and a mode switching portion switching an inlet mode to draw air into the casing and an outlet mode to blow out air to the vehicle interior, wherein: the plurality of air inlets includes a driver seat inlet port from which air in a space adjacent to the driver seat is drawn in; the mode switching portion is configured to be switchable between a normal mode during which air drawn in from at least one of the plurality of air inlets is blown out from both of the driver seat outlet and the passenger seat outlet and a driver seat mode during which air drawn in from the driver seat inlet port is blown out from the driver seat outlet; and the driver seat inlet port is defined in the casing in a region exposed to the space adjacent to the driver seat.

2 . The air conditioner according to claim 1 , wherein:
the casing is disposed in such a manner that at least a part thereof is at a position in a center in a vehicle right-left direction; the air blower is stored in the casing at a position in the center in the vehicle right-left direction; and the driver seat inlet port is defined in the casing in a region at a position in the center in the vehicle right-left direction.

3 . The air conditioner according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a heating portion stored in the casing to heat air to be sent to the vehicle interior; and a cooling portion disposed upstream of the heating portion in a flow of air in the casing to cool air to be sent to the vehicle interior, wherein: the air blower is disposed downstream of the cooling portion in the flow of air in the casing; and the driver seat inlet port is defined in the casing in a region downstream of the cooling portion in the flow of air.

4 . An air conditioner for a vehicle having a driver seat outlet from which air is blown out toward a driver seat in a vehicle interior and a passenger seat outlet from which air is blown out toward a passenger seat in the vehicle interior, the air conditioner comprising:
a casing forming an outer shape; an air blower stored in the casing to blow air to the vehicle interior by drawing in air from at least one of a plurality of air inlets defined in the casing; and a mode switching portion switching an inlet mode to draw air into the casing and an outlet mode to blow out air to the vehicle interior, wherein: the plurality of air inlets includes an inside air introduction port disposed in a space adjacent to the passenger seat, from which air in the vehicle interior is drawn in, and a driver seat inlet port disposed at a position closer to the space adjacent to the driver seat than the inside air introduction port, from which air in the vehicle interior is drawn in; and the mode switching portion is configured to be switchable between a normal mode during which air drawn in from at least one of the plurality of air inlets is blown out from both of the driver seat outlet and the passenger seat outlet and a driver seat mode during which air drawn in from the driver seat inlet port is blown out from the driver seat outlet.

5 . The air conditioner according to claim 4 , further comprising:
a heating portion stored in the casing to heat air to be sent to the vehicle interior, wherein: the heating portion includes an electric heater which generates heat when energized; and the electric heater is disposed in an air passage from the driver seat inlet port to the driver seat outlet in the casing.

6 . The air conditioner according to claim 5 , wherein:
the air blower is formed of a heater-integrated air blower equipped with the electric heater as a built-in heater.

7 . The air conditioner according to claim 4 , wherein:
the plurality of air inlets includes an outside air introduction port from which air outside of the vehicle interior is drawn in and an inside air introduction port from which air in a space adjacent to the passenger seat is drawn in; the driver seat outlet has a driver seat foot outlet portion from which air is blown out toward feet of an occupant seated on the driver seat and a driver seat defroster outlet portion from which air is blown out toward a windshield in the vehicle interior; the passenger seat outlet has a passenger seat foot outlet portion from which air is blown out toward feet of an occupant seated on the passenger seat and a passenger seat defroster outlet portion from which air is blown out toward the windshield in the vehicle interior; the casing has a first air channel through which air drawn in from the outside air introduction port is introduced to the driver seat defroster outlet portion and the passenger seat defroster outlet portion, and a second air channel through which air drawn in from one of the driver seat inlet port and the inside air introduction port is introduced to the driver seat foot outlet portion and the passenger seat foot outlet portion; the normal mode at a time of heating is a heating mode during which air drawn in from the outside air introduction port is blown out to both of the driver seat defroster outlet portion and the passenger seat defroster outlet portion via the first air channel while air drawn in from the inside air introduction port is blown out to both of the driver seat foot outlet portion and the passenger seat foot outlet portion via the second air channel; and the driver seat mode at a time of heating is a heating mode during which air drawn in from the outside air introduction port is blown out to both of the driver seat defroster outlet portion and the passenger seat defroster outlet portion via the first air channel while air drawn in from the driver seat inlet port is blown out to the driver seat foot outlet portion via the second air channel.

8 . The air conditioner according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a heating portion stored in the casing to heat air to be sent to the vehicle interior; and a cooling portion disposed upstream of the heating portion in a flow of air in the casing to cool air to be sent to the vehicle interior, wherein: the air blower is disposed upstream of the cooling portion in the flow of air in the casing; and the driver seat inlet port is defined in the casing in a region upstream of the cooling portion in the flow of air.

9 . The air conditioner according to claim 4 , wherein:
the driver seat outlet has a driver seat foot outlet portion from which air is blown out toward feet of an occupant seated on the driver seat and a driver seat face outlet portion from which air is blown out toward an upper half of the occupant seated on the driver seat; and the driver seat inlet port is defined in the casing in a region below the driver seat face outlet portion.

10 . An air conditioner for a vehicle having a driver seat outlet from which air is blown out toward a driver seat in a vehicle interior and a passenger seat outlet from which air is blown out toward a passenger seat in the vehicle interior, the air conditioner comprising:
a casing forming an outer shape; an air blower stored in the casing to blow air to the vehicle interior by drawing in air from at least one of a plurality of air inlets defined in the casing; and a mode switching portion switching an inlet mode to draw air into the casing and an outlet mode t

Assignees

• Denso Corp

Inventors

• Ochiai Toshinori
• Kato Shinya
• Yamaoka Jun

Classifications

• B60S1/023

  including defroster or demisting means · CPC title

• B60H2001/00135

  Deviding walls for separate air flows · CPC title

• B60H2001/00214

  Devices in front of the passenger compartment · CPC title

• B60H1/00564

  of air ducts · CPC title

• B60S1/54

  using gas, e.g. hot air · CPC title