WO1998029272A1

WO1998029272A1 - Panel-mounted nozzle with improved actuating means

Info

Publication number: WO1998029272A1
Application number: PCT/SE1997/002127
Authority: WO
Inventors: Harry Eriksson
Original assignee: Lear Corporation
Priority date: 1996-12-18
Filing date: 1997-12-17
Publication date: 1998-07-09
Also published as: AU5502898A; SE508114C2; SE9604647L; SE9604647D0

Abstract

A panel-mounted nozzle for ventilation or climate control installations, primarily intended for motor vehicle compartments, comprising guide vanes (2, 3) disposed in two layers, wherein the guide vanes within one and the same layer are pivotally mounted and arranged in parallel relationship and wherein the guide vanes of one of the layers extend perpendicular to the direction of extension of the guide vanes of the other layer. In addition, the nozzle has an actuating means (4) which is non-rotationally mounted on a guide vane (2) and comprises a protruding grip member (5) serving as a lever for pivoting this guide vane (2) and the rest of the guide vanes in the same layer, said actuating means also being displaceable in the longitudinal direction of said guide vane (2) and further comprising a first toothed segment (6), said segment being located at the end remote from said grip member (5) and in engagement with a matching second toothed segment (7), which second toothed segment (7) is arranged on a guide vane (3) in the other layer in order to cause pivotal movement of the guide vanes of said other layer in response to its displacement. Particular features of the invention are that the actuating means (4) is secured to the guide vane (2) by means of a snap fastening arrangement and in that it further comprises spring means (27, 28), said spring means being integrated therewith and biasing the guide vane (2) to increase the friction.

Description

PANEL-MOUNTED NOZZLE WITH IMPROVED ACTUATING MEANS

The present invention relates to a panel-mounted nozzle for ventilation or climate control installations, primarily intended for motor vehicle compartments, comprising guide vanes disposed in two layers, wherein the guide vanes within one and the same layer are pivot- ally mounted and arranged in parallel relationship and wherein the guide vanes of one of the layers extend at right angles to the direction of extension of the guide vanes of the other layer, and an actuating means, said actuating means being non-rotationally mounted on a guide vane and comprising a protruding grip member serving as a lever for pivoting the associated guide vane and the rest of the guide vanes in the same layer, said actuating means also being displaceable in the longitudinal direction of said guide vane and further comprising a first toothed segment, said segment being located at the end remote from said grip member and in engagement with a matching second toothed segment, which second toothed segment is arranged on a guide vane in the other layer in order to cause pivotal movement of the guide vanes of said other layer in response to its displacement.

Panel-mounted nozzles of the type described above are previously known. However, the actuating means must be designed to ensure that the friction between the actuating means and the associated guide vane is such as to allow convenient displacement of the actuating means while at the same time ensuring that the latter remains in the position wherein it is set without being affected by the air flow through the nozzle, by vehicle vibrations or the like. Generally, this is achieved by means of a small metal spring which is inserted between the actuating means and the associated guide vane. However, several disadvantages are associated with such springs, among them that they are small and consequently difficult to mount, which renders the mounting process time-consuming and therefore expensive, and also the fact that they are made from a different material from the rest of the panel-mounted nozzle, which is unfavourable from an environmental point of view.

The object of the present invention therefore is to provide a panel-mounted nozzle which completely or partly eliminates the above problems inherent in prior-art technology.

This object is achieved by means of a panel-mounted nozzle of the kind defined in the appended claims.

The invention will be described for exemplifying purposes in the following by way of one embodiment thereof and with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a view of a panel-mounted nozzle in accordance with the invention, with parts of the actuating means being broken away; Fig. 2 is a view from above of the actuating means and the guide vanes directly affected by said means;

Fig. 3 is an exploded view of the actuating means and the associated guide vane on which it is mounted;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view through the actuating means and its associated mounting guide vane, the section being taken at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the guide vane;

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view through the actuating means and its associated mounting guide vane, the sectional plane coinciding with the plane of the guide vane;

Fig. 6 is a view of the toothed segment of the actuating means, and

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view through the actu- ating means of the invention in accordance with another embodiment thereof. As appears from Fig. 1, a panel-mounted nozzle in accordance with the invention comprises an outer frame 1 in which guide vanes 2, 3 are pivotally mounted. The guide vanes are arranged in two layers, the guide vanes of one and the same layer being arranged in parallel with one another. The guide vanes 2 of the outermost layer extend essentially perpendicular to the direction of extension of the guide vanes 3 of the layer behind. In addition, the nozzle comprises an actuating means 4. The actuating means 4 is positioned on a guide vane 2 of the outer layer and as appears from Fig. 2 it comprises a grip member 5 projecting outwardly from the associated guide vane 2, and a toothed segment 6 positioned on the opposite side of the guide vane from the grip member. The actuating means is arranged to be displaceable in the longitudinal direction of the guide vane 2, as indicated by double arrow 8. In addition, the toothed segment 6 engages a second toothed segment 7, the latter being mounted on a guide vane 3 belonging to the set of guide vanes of the rear layer. Owing to this arrangement, displacement movements 8 of the actuating means 4 will be translated into a pivotal movement of the rear guide vane 3, as illustrated by double arrow 9. For this reason, the second toothed segment preferably has an arcuate configuration to ensure continuous engagement during the entire pivotal movement. Both the guide vanes of the outer layer 2 and the guide vanes of the layer 3 behind preferably are interconnected in a way ensuring that a pivotal movement of one guide vane will be trans- ferred in such a manner that the rest of the vanes of the same layer will be correspondingly pivoted, and such that the guide vanes of one and the same layer remain in interparallel relationship, also following the completion of a pivotal movement. The actuating means is movable only in the longitudinal direction of the guide vane 2 and thus it is non- rotationally secured in a plane at right angles to that direction. The projecting grip member 5 thus serves as a lever for pivoting the guide vanes 2 of the outer layer as it is being pivoted about the pivot axis of the guide vane, as illustrated by double arrow 10 in Fig. 1. The actuating means in accordance with the shown embodiment comprises two separate parts, as appears from Fig. 3, one part consisting of the grip member 5 and the second part of the toothed segment 6.

The part comprising the toothed segment 6 is manu- factured from a material that is at least somewhat resiliently flexible and that preferably has satisfactory bearing properties, such as e.g. POM. In addition to the toothed segment 6, the part also comprises flanges 11, 12 projecting away from the segment 6. The flanges 11, 12 extend essentially in parallel and perpendicularly to the plane of the toothed segment 6. The flange ends remote from the toothed segment 6 are formed with facing hook means 13, 14. These hook means are configured for cooperation with an abutment edge 15 formed on the guide vane 2, whereby when the projecting flanges 11, 12 of the toothed segment part are passed across the guide vane 2, as illustrated by arrow 22, the hook means 13, 14 act as snap fastening means, securing the toothed segment part to the guide vane 2, as illustrated in Fig. 4. Advan- tageously, one abutment edge 15 of this nature is provided on both sides of the guide vane. Furthermore, the flanges 11, 12 are provided with abutment edges 16, 17. The part of the actuating means that comprises the grip member 5 is likewise formed with two flanges 18, 19, also provided with facing hook means 20, 21. These hook means 20, 21 are adapted to engage the abutment edges 16, 17 on the toothed segment in snap-fastener fashion, when the grip member, from the opposite direction relative to the first hook means, as illustrated by arrow 23, is passed across the guide vane 2 and the toothed segment already mounted thereon. In addition, the hook means 20, 21 preferably are configured like recesses having lateral which are turned in opposite directions, an arrangement which ensures that the grip member is restrained against movement in both the forwards and the rearwards directions . Owing to this mounting arrangement the grip member part will have no direct contact with the guide vane but only with the toothed segment part. Consequently, the grip member part may be manufactured from a different artificial material, such as e.g. ABS, PP or TPE, materials which do no possess the same bearing properties as those required from the material of the toothed segment part.

Further the toothed segment 6 in accordance with the shown embodiment is formed with recesses 24, 25 which are disposed essentially centrally in the segment and side by side relative to the longitudinal direction of the toothed segment. Thus, a middle portion 26 forms intermediate these recesses.. From the middle portion, resilient arms 27, 28 serving as a leaf springs, project into the recesses 24, 25. The arms extend essentially in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the toothed segment and protrude somewhat from the rear face of the toothed segment. In the mounted position of the toothed segment part on the guide vane, these arms will abut against the guide vane and due to their resilience exert some depressing force on said vane. This furthers the holding-together effect between the toothed segment part and the guide vane while at the same time increasing the friction between these parts, ensuring that the guide vanes remain in a set position.

In addition, the resilient arms may be formed with edges 29, 30 which edges are turned towards the guide vane and are adapted to cooperate with grooves 31, 32 formed in the guide vane and turned towards the toothed segment. Thanks to the provision of these edges 29, 30 and grooves 31, 32 increased friction is obtained in one or several particular positions of the guide vanes, such as a central position thereof. This allows the user to find this position more readily when he wishes to adjust the guide vanes while at same time the guide vanes remain particularly well in this position. Fig. 7 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the actuating means in accordance with the invention. In accordance with this embodiment the toothed segment is formed with one recess only which is configured for receiving therein a resilient arm 31 secured at two oppo- site ends and arranged to pivot between two positions as indicated in dash-and-dot lines in the drawing figure. Other ways of integrally fastening arms serving as leaf springs are, for course, feasible.

The mounting of the actuating means on the guide vane in this manner, with no holding force being exerted (on that means) in the longitudinal direction of the guide vane while at the same time only the toothed segment part is in direct abutment contact with the guide vane, makes the actuating means easy to displace. In addition, the guide vane may be configured with a protruding stop shoulder 33 which is arranged to be received in a cavity in the grip member part 5 as the actuating means 4 assumes its mounted position. The stop shoulder thus will abut against the grip member side edges in the end positions of the displacement stroke, limiting the stroke length.

The invention has been described above with reference to one embodiment thereof. Other embodiments of the invention are, however, possible. For example, the second actuating means part could be manufactured from other artificial materials than those indicated, the snap fastening means may be designed in a different manner and possibly also other fastening varieties are feasible. Such modifications must be regarded as equivalent and therefore to be within the scope of protection of the invention as the latter is defined in the appended claims .

Claims

1. A panel-mounted nozzle for ventilation or climate control installations, primarily intended for motor vehicle compartments, comprising guide vanes (2, 3) disposed in two layers, wherein the guide vanes within one and the same layer are pivotally mounted and arranged in parallel relationship and wherein the guide vanes of one of the layers extend perpendicular to the direction of extension of the guide vanes of the other layer, and an actuating means (4), said actuating means being non- rotationally mounted on a guide vane (2) and comprising a protruding grip member (5) serving as a lever for pivot- ing the associated guide vane (2) and the rest of the guide vanes in the same layer, said actuating means also being displaceable in the longitudinal direction of said guide vane (2) and further comprising a first toothed segment (6), said segment being located at the end remote from said grip member (5) and in engagement with a matching second toothed segment (7), which second toothed segment (7) is arranged on a guide vane (3) in the other layer in order to cause pivotal movement of the guide vanes of said other layer in response to its displace- ment , c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the actuating means (4) is secured to the guide vane (2) by means of a snap fastening arrangement and in that it further comprises spring means (27, 28), said spring means being integrated therewith and biasing the guide vane (2) to increase the friction.

2. A panel-mounted nozzle as claimed in claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the actuating means comprises two parts, one toothed segment part comprising the toothed segment (6) and one grip member part com- prising the grip member (5) .

3. A panel-mounted nozzle as claimed in claim 2, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that spring means (27, 28) are integrally coupled to the toothed segment part and are made from the same material as said part.

4. A panel-mounted nozzle as claimed in claim 2 or 3, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the toothed segment part is mounted directly on the guide vane by snap fastening means whereas the grip member part is arranged on the first-mentioned part by snap fastening means, said latter part having no direct contact with the guide vane.

5. A panel-mounted nozzle as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the spring means comprise at least one arm (27, 28, 31) extending essentially in the direction of the guide vane and acting as a leaf spring.