GB2235283A

GB2235283A - A device for supplying fresh air to the passenger space of a vehicle

Info

Publication number: GB2235283A
Application number: GB9015316A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Hannes Schneider
Original assignee: Daimler Benz AG
Current assignee: Daimler Benz AG
Priority date: 1989-07-14
Filing date: 1990-07-12
Publication date: 1991-02-27
Anticipated expiration: 2010-07-12
Also published as: DE3923307A1; IT9048135A1; FR2649649A1; IT9048135A0; DE3923307C2; IT1241480B; FR2649649B1; GB2235283B; GB9015316D0

Abstract

A device for supplying fresh air to the passenger space of a vehicle has a fresh-air conduit (16) which supplies air to an air inlet (22) present in the passenger space. The conduit (16) includes an air-inflow orifice (19). an air filter (25) through which the airstream passes, and an air-outflow (20). To achieve a high air throughput, the fresh-air conduit (16) is designed with large horizontal width and a small vertical height and is located on the underside of the engine bonnet 14. The air filter (25) is arranged diagonally in the direction of airflow, extending over a substantial length of the fresh-air conduit (16), so as to bear with one end against the upper limiting wall (161) and with the other end against the lower limiting wall (162) of the fresh-air conduit (16). The air filter is removable via a cover flap (29) with the bonnet closed, the inflow orifice (19) rests on an elbow (32) arranged behind the radiator grill. The elbow (32) includes a front-opening orifice (33). A flap (24) controls an air flow bypass arrangement. <IMAGE>

Description

c 1 1 Device for Supplying fresh air to the Dassenaer space of a vehicle j

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The invention relates to a device for supplying fresh air to the passenger space of a vehicle, which has a body front end, which precedes the passenger space in the driving direction and surrounds an engine space accessible via an engine bonnet, and with a f resh-air conduit, to which f resh air is f ed via a f resh-air inlet arranged in the body front end, this fresh ir flowing through a filter, in the fresh-air conduit.

In a known ventilation device of this type (German Offenlegungsschrift 2, 928,297), the air-inflow orif ice is provided in the engine bonnet which, with the engine bonnet closed, covers on the inlet side the freshair conduit extending in the engine space as f ar as the passenger space. A pollutant absorption filter is arranged exchangeably inside the fresh-air conduit. The fresh-air conduit is guided in the engine space in such a way that the filter is located in the natural heating region of the engine. The fresh air is thereby heated to a greater or lesser extent, depending on the design so that, on the one hand, there is no appreciable transfer of moisture to the filter and, on the other hand, the filter is exposed to a continuously recurring drying process, with the result that, at every new start of a car trip, it is once again completely dry and therefore active. Because of the builtin filter, such ventilation devices usually have only a low air throughput which is not sufficient for a rapid air exchange in the passenger space.

In a similar known ventilation device, the air filter, especially pollutant filter, was therefore made pivotable, so that it can be swung out of the air stream in the event of an increased demand for fresh air. With the air filter swung out, the air resistance of the ventilation device decreases considerably, so that the air throughput 2 increases. However, the removal of pollutants f rom the fresh air is abandoned by so doing, and therefore it is advisable to swing out the air f ilter only when the vehicle is travelling in an environment of low pollution.

The invention seeks to provide a device of the type mentioned in the introduction, which, whilst ensuring a permanent air filtering, makes it possible to obtain a high air throughput.

According to the present invention there is provided a device for supplying fresh air to the passenger space of a vehicle which has a body f ront end, which precedes the passenger space in the driving direction and surrounds an engine space accessible via an engine bonnet, and with a fresh-air conduit, to which fresh air is f ed via a fresh-air inlet arranged in the body f ront end, this fresh air flowing through a filter, in the fresh-air conduit, wherein an air-inf low orif ice is provided in an approximately vertically extending region of the front end face of the body front end and is located in f ront of an elbow which, when the device is installed in a vehicle with the engine bonnet closed, merges into a fresh-air conduit having a wide surf ace and a small vertical height on the underside of the engine bonnet and which receives diagonally the air filter extending over the entire conduit width and over a substantial part of the conduit length, its end near the air-inf low orif ice bearing against the upper limiting wall and its other end bearing against the lower limiting wall of the air conduit, and in the lower limiting wall there is an orif ice which extends over the filter region and which can be closed by means of a cover flap.

The ventilation device according to the invention has the advantage of a very large f ilter surface and an associated relatively low air resistance which, f or the same blower capacity, allows a substantially higher air throughput. At the same time, the air f ilter makes an 1 3 essential contribution to the noise reduction of the engine space, this being especially beneficial for the enginespace enclosure sought after in diesel vehicles.

When, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the airinflow orifice is arranged on the end face of the vehicle body in the vertical region, the air throughput is assisted by the relative wind. In this case, the air filter extending diagonally through the fresh-air conduit in the direction of airflow bears, in the front region'of the fresh-air conduit, against the upper limiting wall of the fresh-air conduit and, in the rear region of the fresh-air conduit, against the lower limiting wall of the latter.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, for an easy filter change, in the lower limiting wall of the fresh-air conduit there is a recess which extends over the entire region of the air filter and which can be closed by means of a cover flap. After the engine bonnet has been opened, 'he cover flap is easily accessible, so that a filter change can be carried out under favourable conditions of time and cost. At the same time, the air filter can be of one-part or multi-part design, the parting planes extending between the individual air-filter parts in the direction of airflow.

For the fresh-air intake, there is additionally a blower which is incorporated in an air-guide box arranged between the air inlet of the passenger space and that end of the fresh-air conduit facing the said air inlet. The air-guide box is so designed on the inlet side that, with the engine bonnet closed, it covers positively an end connection orifice of the fresh-air conduit. In addition, the air-guide box can also have a selectively closable bypass orifice for an additional air intake. Advantageously, this bypass orifice is protected by a dust filter. A complete air-conditioning system with an evaporator, heat exchanger and air-distributor box can also 4 be arranged between the air-guide box and air inlet of the passenger space.

The invention will now be described in detail below by means of an embodiment illustrated in the drawing, in which:

Figure 1 shows a perspective representation of the front view of the motor vehicle, Figure 2 shows a side view of a ventilation device in the motor vehicle of Figure 1, of which the engine bonnet is shown on the one hand in a closed state and on the other hand in the opene d state.

of the motor vehicle shown in perspective and in cutout form in Figure 1, there can be seen the front part of the passenger space 10 with a windscreen 11 and the body front end 12 which precedes the passenger space 10 in the driving direction and which surrounds an engine space 13 accessible via an engine bonnet 14. At the same time, the engine bonnet 14 is drawn into the front part of the body front end 12 and reaches directly as far as the radiator grill is.

In the engine space 13 there is a ventilation device provided for supplying fresh air to the passenger space 10 and which comprises a freshair conduit 16 and an air-guide box 17 adjoining the latter as far as the passenger space 10 and having an integrated blower 18. The fresh air passes at the end face into the fresh-air conduit 16 through an inflow orifice 19 which, with the engine bonnet 14 closed, rests on a horizontal orifice 31 of an elbow 32 which itself is arranged with a vertical airinflow orifice 33 behind the radiator grill 15. The end outflow orifice 20 of the fresh-air conduit 16 corresponds to the connection orifice 21 of the air-guide box 17 which, at the other end, covers an air inlet 22 in the passenger space 10. In the air-guide box 17, there is in the upper limiting wall, near the connection orifice 21, a bypass orifice 23 which can be selectively opened or closed by means of an air flap 24 indicated by broken lines.

The fresh-air conduit 16 is designed with a wide surf ace and a small vertical height on the underside of the engine bonnet 14. Arranged in the fresh-air conduit 16 is an air filter 25 which can be a dust filter or an absorption filter for pollutants. The air filter 25 is designed with a large surface and extends diagonally over a substantial length of the fresh-air conduit 16, and in the front region of the fresh-air conduit 16 it bears against the upper limiting wall 161 of the fresh-air conduit 16, and in the rear region of the f resh-air conduit 16, near the outf low orif ice 20, it bears against the lower limiting wall 162 of the f reshair conduit 16. As indicated by dot-and-dashed lines in Figure 1, the air filter 25 can also be of multi-part design. The parting planes 26, 27 between the air-filter parts 25a and 25b extend in the direction of airflow.

To install and remove the air f ilter 25 and to ensure a f ilter change convenient for servicing, in the lower limiting wall 162 of the fresh-air conduit 16 there is a recess 28 which extends over the entire filter region and which can be closed by means of a cover flap 29. As can be seen in the upper drawing part of Figure 2 showing the opened engine bonnet 14, the cover flap 29 is held on the lower limiting wall 162 of the fresh-air conduit 16 pivotably by means of a rear pivot axle 30 aligned transversely relative to the direction of airf low in the f resh- air conduit 16 and, with the engine bonnet 14 opened, can be pivoted away from this at approximately 90. The air filter 25 is thereafter freely accessible and can be unclipped by hand from its diagonal engagement position. After a new air filter 25 has been inserted and the cover flap 29 closed, the engine bonnet 14 can be closed again, the air-inflow orifice 19 of the fresh-air conduit 16 automatically coming to rest on the elbow 32, and the outflow orifice 20 of the fresh-air conduit 16 positively 6 covering the connection orifice 21 of the air-guide box 17. The invention is not restricted to the exemplary embodiment described. Thus, the ventilation device can also be assigned a heating and/or air-conditioning system which is then interposed between the air-guide box 17 and the air inlet 22 in the passenger space 10.

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Claims

1. A device f or supplying fresh air to the passenger space of a vehicle which has a body f ront end, which precedes the passenger space in the driving direction and surrounds an engine space accessible via an engine bonnet, and with a fresh-air conduit, to which fresh air is fed via a fresh-air inlet arranged in the body front end, this fresh air flowing through a filter, in the fresh-air conduit, wherein an air-inflow orifice is provided in an approximately vertically extending region of the front end f ace of the body f ront end and is located in f ront of an elbow which, when the device is installed in a vehicle with the engine bonnet closed, merges into a fresh-air conduit having a wide surf ace and a small vertical height on the underside of the engine bonnet and which receives diagonally the air filter extending over the entire conduit width and over a substantial part of the conduit length, its end near the air-inf low orif ice bearing against the upper limiting wall and its other end bearing against the lower limiting wall of the air conduit, and in the lower limiting wall there is an orif ice which extends over the filter region and which can be closed by means of a cover flap.

2. A device according to Claim 1, wherein the inf low orifice is provided in an approximately vertically extending region of the f ront end f ace of the body f ront end, the fresh-air conduit is such that on the inlet side, with the engine bonnet closed, its open end face at least partially covers the air-inf low orifice, and the air filter bears, in the front region of the fresh-air conduit, against the upper limiting wall of the latter and, in the rear region of the f resh-air conduit, against its lower limiting wall.

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3. A device according to Claim 2, wherein the air inflow orifice is located in the region of the ornamental radiator grill arranged on the end face of the body front end.

4. A device according to any one of Claims 1-3, wherein in the lower limiting wall of the fresh-air conduit there is a recess which extends over the filter region and which can be closed by means of a cover flap.

5. A device according to Claim 4, wherein the cover flap is held on the lower limiting wall of the fresh-air conduit pivotally by means of a pivot axle aligned transversely relative to the direction of airflow in the fresh-air conduit.

6. A device according to any one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the air filter is of multi-part design, the parting planes of the filter parts extending in the direction of airflow.

7. A device according to any one of Claims 1 to 6, wherein the air inlet of the passenger space is preceded by an air-guide box with an integrated blower and with a connection orifice for the fresh-air conduit, and the fresh-air conduit is such that, with the engine bonnet closed, its rear open end face positively covers the connection orifice of the air-guide box.

S. A device according to Claim 7, wherein a bypass orifice which is closable selectively is provided in the air-guide box near the connection orifice for the fresh-air conduit.

z Q 9. A device for supplying f resh air to the passenger space of a vehicle substantially as described herein, with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.

Published 1991 atfbe Patent Officc.5tate House, 66/71 High Holborn. London WCIR4'1'P. Further copies may be obtained from Sales Branch. Unit6. Nine Mile Point. Cwmfelinfach. Cross Keys. Newport, NPI 7HZ. Printed by Multiplex techniques ltd. St Mary Cray. Kent-