CA1244652A - Air induction system for automotive air-conditioner - Google Patents

Air induction system for automotive air-conditioner

Info

Publication number
CA1244652A
CA1244652A CA000466748A CA466748A CA1244652A CA 1244652 A CA1244652 A CA 1244652A CA 000466748 A CA000466748 A CA 000466748A CA 466748 A CA466748 A CA 466748A CA 1244652 A CA1244652 A CA 1244652A
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
air induction
opening
door
air
induction opening
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
CA000466748A
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Yoshinori Fukasaku
Katsuhiko Hashimoto
Kunihiro Noto
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Hitachi Ltd
Original Assignee
Hitachi Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Hitachi Ltd filed Critical Hitachi Ltd
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA1244652A publication Critical patent/CA1244652A/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60HARRANGEMENTS OF HEATING, COOLING, VENTILATING OR OTHER AIR-TREATING DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR PASSENGER OR GOODS SPACES OF VEHICLES
    • B60H1/00Heating, cooling or ventilating [HVAC] devices
    • B60H1/00642Control systems or circuits; Control members or indication devices for heating, cooling or ventilating devices
    • B60H1/00664Construction or arrangement of damper doors
    • B60H1/00671Damper doors moved by rotation; Grilles
    • B60H1/00678Damper doors moved by rotation; Grilles the axis of rotation being in the door plane, e.g. butterfly doors

Landscapes

  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Thermal Sciences (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Air-Conditioning For Vehicles (AREA)

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
An air induction system for an automotive air-conditioner has an air switching housing connected to the suction opening of a blower casing. The housing is provided with a fresh outdoor air induction opening formed in the top wall opposing the suction opening, and a recirculated indoor air induction opening formed in a side wall adjacent to the top wall. An air-switching door is provided for selectively opening and closing the outdoor air induction opening and the indoor air opening. The air-switching door is foldable substantially at its mid portion so that, when the door closes the indoor air induction opening, it is folded to provide a small effective area, while, when it closes the outdoor air induction opening, it is extended to provide a large effective area. The system further has auxiliary indoor air induction openings formed in other side walls and an accordion-type shutter for selectively closing and opening the auxiliary indoor air induction opening. The air switching door and the accordion-type shutter are operatively connected such that, when the door opens the outdoor air induction opening and closes the indoor air opening, the shutter closes the auxiliary indoor air induction openings.

Description

~2~5~

1 sAcKGRouND OF THE INVENTION
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an air induction system for automotive air-conditioners and, more particular-ly, to an improved construction of a switching deviceoperative to switch over to or from indoor or recirculated air from or to outdoor or fresh air.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
A typical conventional air induction system for automotive air conditioners has, as shown in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 24566/1982, a box-like intake housing having a fresh-air induction opening and a recir-culated-air induction opening which are selectively opened and closed by a single or a pair of dampers or doors. In - 15 this air induction system, therefore, the areas of the air induction openings are determined by the area of the door or doors and the width and height of the box-like housing are determined or limited by the arrangement for opening and closing the doors, which determines the overall size of the box-like housing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to reduce the height of the box-like hou3ing without reducing ,. ~

~L2d~65~
1 the areas of the fresh-air induction opening and the recirculated-air induction opening.
To this end, according to the invention, an auxiliary opening is formed in a wall of the box-like housing other than the wall in which the openings for fresh air and recirculated air are formed and the auxiliary opening is opened and closed simultaneously with the operation of a door for switching over the fresh-air induction opening and the recirculated-air induction opening.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of an embodi-ment of an air induction system in accordance with the invention;
Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the whole of the air induction system shown in Fig. l;
Figs. 3A and 3B are enlarged illustrations of operation of a foldable door used in the air induction system of the invention; and Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of an example of an accordion-type shutter used in the air induc-tion system of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT
Referring to the drawings, an air induction system of the invention includes a box-like housing 1 having a ; 25 wall lC in which is formed a main recirculated-air or indoor air induction opening 4. A shaft 30 carrying the base end , 2 --....

~24a~5~
1 of a foldable door 29 is rotatably attached to the inner upper end of the wall lC. The foldable door 29 has a pair of door panels 26 and 27 which are pivotally connected to each other as will be described later in connection with Fig. 3. When the foldable door 29 is folded, i.e., when two door panels are brought together, one 26 of these two door panels closes the main recirculated-air induction opening 4. However, when the foldable door 29 is stretched, i.e., when the door panels 26 are 27 are extended into a substantially planar position, these door panels cooperate to close a fresh-air or outdoor air induction opening 2 formed in the top lA of the box-like housing 1. The ar-rangement is such that, when the fresh-air induction opening 2 is closed by the door panels 26 and 27, the main recirculated-air induction opening 4 is opened, whereas, when the main recirculated-air induction opening 4 is closed by the door panel 26, the fresh-air induction passage
2 is opened.
Auxiliary recirculated-air induction openings 15 are formed in the walls lE and lF adjacent to the wall lC
having the main recirculated-air induction opening 4 and in the wall lD opposing the wall lC.
An accordion-type shutter 28 is pivotally connect-ed at an end through a rotary shaft 25 to the portion of the upper inner surface of the wall lC. Thus, the accordion-type shutter 28 is designed to selectively open and close at least two of the auxiliary recirculated-air induction openings 15. The details of the accordion-type shutter 28
- 3 4465~

1 will be described later.
The foldable door 29 will be described in detail hereinunder with specific reference to Figs. 3A and 3B.
The door 29 is a flap door which is constituted, as mentioned before, by two door panels 26 and 27 pivotally connected to each other. These door panels 26 and 27 have almost equal lengths so that the door 29 can be flexed or folded substantially at the mid portion thereof. More specifically, the end of the door panel 26 remote from the rotary shaft 30 is provided at its both lateral sides with pegs 16, while the adjacent end of the door panel 27 is provided with eyes 17 which rotatably engage the pegs 16.
The eyes 17 are retained on the pegs 16 by E rings 18. Pegs 21 project from both lateral side edges of the door panel 27 and are received in grooves 19 formed in rails disposed adjacent to the inner surfaces of both walls lE and lF
disposed at both sides of the door panel 27. The arrange-ment is such that, when the door panel 26 is swung about the axis of the shaft 30, the pegs 21 on the door panel 27 slide along the grooves 19 in the rails. The rails are so curved that, when the door panel 26 has been swung away from the wall lC to a position substantially perpendicular thereto, both door panels 26 and 27 are extended substan~
tially linearly to provide a substantially flat wall of a large area Sl to fully close the fresh-air induction opening 2. The foldable door 29 can be folded to provide a small area S2 when it is swung to the position for closing the main recirculated-air induction opening 4.
- 4 -1 The accordion-type shutter 28 for selectively closing the auxiliary recirculated-air induction openings 15 has a flat plate or frame 22 connected to the shaft 25 and made of a comparatively rigid material such as an iron or a hard resin, and a double-walled accordion-like parti-tion 32 sealingly securd at its lower end 28B to the upper surface of the flat frame 22. The partition 32 is formed of a flexible elastomeric material such as rubber or a soft plastic material. The upper end 28A of the accordion-like partition 32 is sealingly secured to the inner surface of the top wall lA of the box-like housing 1. The arrangement is such that the frame 22 of the accordion-type shutter 28 is swingable about the axis of the shaft 25 up and down between an upper position in which the shutter is folded into a substantially flat position and a lower or stretched position in which the shutter 28 as a whole exhibits a substantial triangular side elevation, as viewed in Fig. 1.
When the frame 22 is in the upper position, the accordion-type shutter 28 opens the auxiliary recirculated-air induc-tion openings 15 whereas, when the frame 22 is in the lowerposition, the shutter 28 covers and closes the auxiliary recirculated-air induction openings 15.
An aperture or passage 28C of an area greater than that of the foldable door 29 is defined by the accordion-like partition 32 and the flat frame 22 to provide a fluid-flow communication between the fresh-air induction opening 2 and a suction opening 3 formed in the top of a blower housing 14 in which a fan 14a is provided
5 -12~ iZ

1 so as to be driven by a motor 13. A portion of the ac-cordion-like partition is double-walled to form a pressure chamber or pneumatic actuator 23 which is communicated with a vacuum source (not shown) through a pipe 24 pro-jecting upwardly from the upper end 28A of the accordion-type partition 28. The arrangement is such that a vacuum or atmospheric pressure is selectively introduced into the actuator 23 via the pipe 24 through a solenoid valve which may be of the type disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 70807/1981.
In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the Actuator 23 is so formed as to possess a resiliency which, when the atmospheric pressure is introduced into the actuator, expands the actuator to the position shown in Fig. 1 in which the accordion-type shutter 28 closes the auxiliary recirculated-air induction openings 15 formed in the side walls lD, lE and lF of the box-like housing 1.
However, a spring member or members may auxiliary be used to keep the shutter 28 closed when vacuum is not introduced into the actuator 23.
Referring to Fig. 2, the rotary shaft 25 of the accordion-type shutter 28 and the rotary shaft 30 of the foldable door 29 are operatively connected by a link mechan-ism so that the foldable door 2g can be operated in relation to the operation of the accordion-type shutter 28 when the same is actuated by vacuum or atmospheric pressure introduced into the actuator 23. This arrangement, however, is not exclusive. For instance, it is possible to arrange ; - 6 -~':

1244~ii2 1 such that the rotary shaft 30 of the foldable door 29 is driven by a suitable power source to drive the accordion-type shutter 28 through the link mechanism 31. In such a case, the actuator 23 can be omitted. It is also possible to drive the shafts 25 and 30 by independent power sources.
In this case, the link mechanism 31 is unnecessary.
In operation, for inducing fresh air, the foldable door 29 is folded such that both door panels 26 and 27 are superposed to each other so that the main recirculated-air induction opening 4 is closed by the door panel 26 and the fresh-air induction opening 2 is opened, while the auxiliary recirculated-air induction openings 15 formed in the walls lD, lE and lF are blocked by the accordion-type shutter 28 which, at this time, is stretched. Therefore, fresh air is sucked at a high rate from the fresh-air induc-tion opening 2 through the aperture 28C in the accordion-type shutter 28.
For inducing recirculated or indoor air, the actuator 23 is pneumatically operated to contract the accordion-like partition 32 for thereby opening all the auxiliary recirculated-air induction openings 15. At this time, the foldable door 29 is moved to a position in which the door panels 26 and 27 are stretched to provide a sub-stantially planar continuous wall to close the fresh-air induction opening 2, while opening the main recirculated-air induction opening 4. In consequence, the recirculated or indoor air is induced at a high rate through the induction openings 4 and 15, while the fresh air is blocked by the .. ~.
. ~..

.

~ 24~

1 foldable door 29.
The described embodiment of the air-induction system for automotive air-conditioner has a foldable door and an accordion-type shutter operatively connected to each other such that the door can be moved to selectively open and close the main recirculated-air induction opening and the fresh-air induction opening simultaneously with the movement of the accordion-type shutter which selectively opens and closes the auxiliary recirculated-air induction openings. With this arrangement, it is not necessary to use a separate actuator for the door, so that the size and the weight of the air-induction system can be decreased without lowering the performance of the automotive air-conditioner. In addition, the combined use of the foldable door and the accordion-type shutter is effective to reduce the height of the box-like housing 1 of the air-induction system without reducing the areas of the air induction openings and thus the flow-rate of the air, so ~hat the space is saved to improve the comort in the occupant compartment of the automobile. The reduction in the size and weight in turn permits a standardization of the air-induction system to increase the applicability of the system to a variety of classes of automobiles.

Claims (5)

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:
1. An air induction system for an automotive air-conditioner, including:
a box-like housing disposed upstream of a blower of the air-conditioner and provided with a recirculated indoor air induction opening and a fresh outdoor air induc-tion opening and with an air switching door means adapted to selectively open and close said indoor air induction opening and said outdoor air induction opening;
an accordion-type shutter means operatively as-sociated with said air switching door means so as to be expanded and contracted, respectively, when said air switch-ing door means is moved to a position for opening said outdoor air induction opening and when said air switching door means is moved to a position for opening said indoor air induction opening; and said housing being further provided with at least one auxiliary indoor air induction opening formed in a portion of said housing means adjacent to said accordion-type shutter means.
2. An air induction system for an automotive air-conditioner including a box-like housing disposed upstream of a blower of the air-conditioner and provided with an indoor air induction opening and an outdoor air induction opening and with an air switching door means supported by said housing and adapted to selectively open and close said indoor air induction opening and said outdoor air induction opening, wherein at least a part of said housing is formed by an accordion-type shutter means, a flap door is provided to selectively open and close said outdoor air induction opening, and an operation mechanism is provided to operate said flap door and said shutter means such that, when said flap door is moved to the position for closing said outdoor air induction opening, said shutter means is driven to an open position, and, when said flap door is moved to a posi-tion for opening said outdoor air induction opening, said shutter means is driven to a closed position.
3. An air induction system for an automotive air-conditioner according to claim 1, wherein at least a portion of said shutter means has a double-walled structure defining a closed chamber, said air induction system further includ-ing a controlling means adapted to introduce vacuum into said chamber when said indoor air induction opening is opened and to introduce atmospheric pressure into said chamber when said outdoor air induction opening is opened.
4. An air induction system for an automotive air-conditioner according to claim 2, wherein at least a portion of said shutter means has a double-walled structure defining a closed chamber, said air induction system further includ-ing a controlling means adapted to introduce vacuum into said chamber when said indoor air induction opening is opened and to introduce atmospheric pressure into said chamber when said outdoor air induction opening is opened.
5. An air induction system for an automotive air-conditioner, inducing a box-like housing disposed upstream of a blower of the air conditioner and provided with a recirculated indoor air induction opening and a fresh outdoor air induction opening and with an air switching door supported by said housing and adapted to selectively open and close said indoor air induction opening and said outdoor air induction opening, said air switching door having door panels pivotally connected to each other so that said door is foldable substantially at a mid portion thereof, said door being adapted to be folded to reduce its effective area when said door closes said indoor air induction opening and adapted to be extended to increase its effective area when said door closes said outdoor air induction opening, said indoor air induction opening having an area correspond-ing to the effective area of said door when in the folded position, said outdoor air induction opening having an area corresponding to the effective area of said door when in the extended position, said housing being further provided with at least one additional opening formed in the wall of said housing means other than the walls having said indoor air induction opening and said outdoor air induction opening;
said air induction system further inducing a shutter means operative such that, when said door is in the extended position, said shutter means opens said additional opening and, when said door is in the folded position, said shutter means closes said additional opening.
CA000466748A 1983-11-04 1984-10-31 Air induction system for automotive air-conditioner Expired CA1244652A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP207798/83 1983-11-04
JP20779883A JPS6099713A (en) 1983-11-04 1983-11-04 Air take-in device for car fan

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA1244652A true CA1244652A (en) 1988-11-15

Family

ID=16545665

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA000466748A Expired CA1244652A (en) 1983-11-04 1984-10-31 Air induction system for automotive air-conditioner

Country Status (2)

Country Link
JP (1) JPS6099713A (en)
CA (1) CA1244652A (en)

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE3544922A1 (en) * 1985-12-19 1987-06-25 Sueddeutsche Kuehler Behr Device for controlling flowing air volumes in air duct systems of motor vehicles
JP3975377B2 (en) * 1998-04-10 2007-09-12 株式会社ヴァレオサーマルシステムズ Air conditioner unit for automotive air conditioner

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
JPS6099713A (en) 1985-06-03

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US4614152A (en) Air induction system for automotive air-conditioner
JP3575495B2 (en) Vehicle air conditioner
KR101145128B1 (en) Blower for Vehicles
US8002615B2 (en) Blower for vehicle
JP3858712B2 (en) Air conditioner for vehicles
US20060099903A1 (en) Damper system for automotive ventilation
CA1244652A (en) Air induction system for automotive air-conditioner
KR102057550B1 (en) air vent with cover Installed Inside an air Filter
KR101178395B1 (en) Door of air conditioning device for vehicles
JPS61188219A (en) Air blow-off device for air-conditioner of automobile
JP4121422B2 (en) Air conditioning structure for cabin of work vehicle
KR101278892B1 (en) Blower for Vehicles
JPH01186414A (en) Outside/inside air intake device for car air-conditioner
CN216128099U (en) Air inlet switching device for vehicle air conditioner
KR101288466B1 (en) Blower for Vehicles
JPS6222804B2 (en)
KR20070101617A (en) Blower for vehicles
KR100789022B1 (en) Blower unit for air conditioner having two-layer air-flow system
JPH0755131Y2 (en) Automotive air conditioner
KR101313566B1 (en) Blower for Vehicles
CN116278622A (en) Air conditioner air inlet system and vehicle
CN112895837A (en) Built-in central automobile air conditioner
KR20080023908A (en) Blower for vehicles
KR100521197B1 (en) A ventilator of a car
JPH1058940A (en) Air conditioner

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
MKEX Expiry