FR2710295A1 - Air-conditioning installation with simplified controls for a vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

A dashboard ventilator (38) with an air outlet vent (84), has a deflector (87) projecting into the path of the air to the vent in order to limit the flow rate thereof, and which moves progressively aside when the ventilator is pivoted outwards, in order to free this path. The pivoting ventilator is also equipped with electrical contacts by virtue of which movement thereof further controls heating of the air, selection between external air and recirculated air, and the switching-on of the coolant compressor. The user no longer has to operate multiple control members.

Description

Simplified air conditioning system for vehicle
The invention relates to an installation for air conditioning the passenger compartment of a vehicle comprising heating means for heating a stream of air, cooling means for cooling a stream of air, circulation means for circulating air. air in contact with the heating means and / or with the cooling means, an aerator for introducing into the passenger compartment air circulating under the action of the circulation means and if necessary heated and / or cooled, said air aerator being provided, for adjusting the air flow passing therethrough, with a movable element which can be moved manually between a minimum open position and a maximum open position, and temperature adjusting means acting on the heating and / or cooling and / or circulation means for regulating the temperature of the air reaching the aerator.

In known installations of this kind, the displacement of the movable element has the sole effect of modifying the air flow rate passing through the aerator. To further regulate the temperature of this air, it is necessary to act on separate control members. Such control members typically include a control member ensuring the start-up and shutdown of a refrigerant compressor to obtain cooled or uncooled air, a control member for selecting the intake outside air and / or recycled air, and a distribution control member making it possible to vary the heat flow rate supplied by the heating means, whether the air is otherwise cooled or not.

The object of the invention is to simplify the use of the installation by assigning to the mobile member of the aerator control functions which previously required separate control members.

The invention relates in particular to an installation of the kind defined in the introduction, and provides that said movable element is part of the adjustment means and acts so that the air is heated and cooled in the minimum and maximum open positions respectively.

Other characteristics, complementary or alternative, of the invention are set out below - Said movable element comprises a grid through which air enters the passenger compartment and a deflector which, in the minimum open position, makes protrusion in the path taken by the air, in the maximum open position, to reach the grid.

- The mobile element can be moved progressively between the minimum opening and maximum opening positions, and the deflector progressively advances in said path from the maximum opening position to the minimum opening position.

- The deflector contributes to defining, in the maximum open position and, where appropriate, partially in the intermediate positions, a wall separating said path and the passenger compartment.

- The mobile element moves in a pivoting movement.

- The temperature adjustment action by the movable element is obtained by means of electrical contacts which are established as a function of the position thereof.

- The circulation means comprise a first blower to circulate air in contact with the heating means and a second blower to circulate air in contact with the cooling means, and the movable element controls said blowers so that the first is in service and the second out of service in the minimum open position, and vice versa in the maximum open position, their speeds varying in opposite directions to each other for any intermediate positions.

- The circulation means comprise a movable shutter making it possible to take air as desired inside and / or outside the passenger compartment to send it in contact with the heating means, and the movable element controls said shutter so that the air is taken exclusively inside in the maximum open position and at least partly outside in the minimum open position and in any intermediate positions.

- The air to be sent in contact with the heating means is taken exclusively outside in the minimum open position and in any intermediate positions.

- The cooling means include an evaporator placed in a refrigerant circuit so that the refrigerant receives heat from the air circulating in contact with the evaporator, and the mobile element controls said refrigerant circuit so that the heat transfer from the refrigerant to the air does not take place in the minimum open position and takes place at least in the maximum open position.

- The refrigerant circuit includes a compressor which is put into service by the movable element at least in the maximum open position.

The characteristics and advantages of the invention will be explained in more detail in the description below, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which - FIG. 1 is a partial view in longitudinal section of a motor vehicle, of the unibody type, equipped with an installation according to the invention; - Figure 2 is a schematic representation of the installation of Figure 1; - Figures 3 and 4 are partial sectional views showing the movable member of the aerator in its two extreme positions respectively.

First of all, reference is made to FIG. 1 which represents a heating-ventilation and air conditioning apparatus 10 which comprises elements arranged on both sides of a transverse partition 12 separating the passenger compartment H from the front engine compartment M of a motor vehicle with electric drive. In the example, it is a vehicle of the "one-piece" type, the windshield P of which is strongly inclined and is situated substantially in the extension of the engine hood C.

The apparatus elements located in the engine compartment M include an air intake member 14 provided with an inlet 16 for air (arrow F1) taken from outside the vehicle and with an inlet 18 for recirculated air (arrow F2) coming from the passenger compartment H. The inlet 16 is connected to a separator 20 whose function is to separate rainwater from the air taken from outside below the windshield P.

The inlet member 14 comprises a pivoting flap 22 movable between two positions: a position for closing the inlet 18 (shown in solid lines in FIG. 1) and a position for closing the inlet 16 (shown in line) interrupted in Figure 1).

The air intake member 14 is provided with a dust filter 24, which makes it possible to produce a flow of outside or recirculated and filtered air, which is then sent, through a passage of the partition. 12, towards the elements of the apparatus 10 which are located on the side of the passenger compartment H.

These elements are placed one after the other in a substantially horizontal direction along the longitudinal axis XX of the vehicle and are housed centrally in the dashboard B.

These elements are grouped in a central module of the dashboard B, which houses a heating device 26 for the production of hot air and a ventilation device 28 for the production of cold or air conditioned air.

The heating device 26 is located towards the front of the dashboard B, that is to say towards the front of the vehicle, and the ventilation device 28 is located towards the rear of the dashboard B, that is to say towards the rear of the vehicle. The filtered air coming from the intake device 14 first passes through the heating device 26 to reach the ventilation device 28.

The heating device 26 is connected to at least one defrosting / defogging mouth 30 of the windshield P to direct an air flow (arrow F3) towards the windshield, to at least one lateral mouth 32 suitable for sending a air flow (arrow F4) towards a side window of the vehicle, and at least one mouth 34 adapted to direct an air flow (arrow F5) towards the lower part of the passenger compartment.

The ventilation device 28 is connected to at least one mouth 36 placed in the upper part of the dashboard B and to at least one aerator 38 placed in the front part of the dashboard.

The heating device 26 comprises an electric heating radiator 40 (FIGS. 1 and 2) which comprises three successive electric radiators 40-1, 40-2 and 40-3 having for example respective resistances of 600 watts, 1000 watts and 1000 watts . The radiator 40 could, as a variant, be constituted by a radiator through which the engine coolant flows, in the case where the vehicle in question is propelled by an internal combustion engine, or else it could be envisaged to combine both a radiator electric and a radiator through which the coolant flows.

The heating device 26 comprises a heating box 42 having an axial inlet 44 for the air coming from the inlet member 14 and optionally heated by the radiator 40. The box 42 also includes outlets 46, 48. The outputs 46 are connected to the mouths 30 and 32, while the outlet 48 is connected to the mouth 34. The housing 42 houses a blower 52 formed by a turbine 54 driven by a motor 56, the common axis of rotation of the motor and of the turbine being along the axis XX.

The ventilation device 28 comprises a housing 58 having an axial inlet 60 connected to inlets 50, 50 ′ of the housing 42 and an axial outlet 62. The housing 58 houses a ventilation blower 64 formed by a propeller 66 driven by a motor 68 whose axis of rotation extends coaxially with that of the motor 56, in the direction of the axis XX.

On the outlet 62 of the housing 58 is mounted a diffusion box 70 housing an evaporator 72.

The boxes 42, 58 and 70 are mounted coaxially and thus constitute a compact module arranged centrally in the dashboard B.

As seen in Figures 3 and 4, the aerator 38 is essentially formed of a movable member 80 mounted to pivot about a horizontal axis extending along the upper edge 81 of an opening 82 formed in the rear wall 83 of the dashboard B. The movable element 80 comprises a grid 84, provided in a known manner with fins 85, which in the position illustrated in FIG. 3 substantially matches the profile of the wall 83 to extend along the opening 82. The edge of the grid 84 opposite the articulation axis is connected, by means of a gripping spout 86, to a wall 87 which, still in the position illustrated in FIG. 3, penetrates into the housing 58 through the opening 82. The movable element 80 further comprises, at its left and right ends in the lateral direction of the vehicle, two cheeks 88 in the shape of a curvilinear triangle which are connected to the left and right edges of the grid and the wall 87.

The opening 82 is located higher than the axis XX of the blower 68. The air flow flowing under the action of this blower in contact with the evaporator 72 must therefore then be deflected upwards to reach the opening 82. In the position of FIG. 3, the wall 87 partially blocks the direct path between the evaporator 72 and the opening 82 and thus plays the role of a deflector limiting the air flow through the grid 84.

FIG. 4 illustrates the extreme position, towards the outside of the housing 70, of the mobile element 80. In this position, the deflector 87 and the cheeks 88 extend almost entirely towards the outside from the lower and lateral edges of the opening 82, and channel the air between the latter and the grid 84. The deflector 87 no longer obstructs the direct path between the evaporator 72 and the opening 82, allowing a higher flow rate. The air flow increases progressively, all other things being equal, when the movable element pivots from the minimum open position in FIG. 3 to the maximum open position in FIG. 4.

The mobile element 80 also has electrical contact members, not shown, capable of cooperating with contact members integral with the dashboard to establish and break, during the pivoting of the mobile element, electrical connections for the purpose of control of various elements of the air conditioning system. Advantageously, the movable element controls the intake flap 22, the blowers 52 and 64 and a compressor, not shown, ensuring the circulation of a refrigerant fluid in the evaporator 72, according to the following methods - In the closed position of Figure 3, the flap 22 is arranged to admit exclusively of outside air, the heating fan 52 rotates at its maximum speed, the ventilation fan 64 is stopped as well as the compressor. Heated air therefore enters the passenger compartment through the aerator 38, at a reduced rate.

- When the movable element 80 is pulled in the opening direction, the flap 22 remains in its initial position, the speed of the blower 52 decreases progressively and that of the blower 64 increases progressively and the compressor remains stopped. We thus admit an increasing flow of air which is less and less heated to finally become ventilation air.

- Only in the fully open position of the aerator, the flap 22, driven by a micro-motor not shown, passes into its position ensuring the exclusive admission of recirculated air, the blower 52 is stopped and the blower 64 rotates at maximum speed, and the compressor is in service. The aerator provides maximum air conditioning flow.

The arrangement described can be combined with known thermostatic means momentarily interrupting the operation of the compressor when the temperature in the passenger compartment becomes lower, by the action of the air conditioning, to a preset value.

If, instead of an all-or-nothing compressor like those used in existing air conditioning systems, there are means allowing the evaporator to extract air at an adjustable heat output, for example a compressor with variable power, these adjustment means can be implemented to provide air conditioning with progressive efficiency over a fraction of the travel of the movable element, this efficiency being maximum for the fully open position.

Although the mode of control by the aerator, characteristic of the invention, has been described in relation to a type of air conditioning installation for which it appears particularly advantageous, the application of the invention is not limited to this type of installation. Furthermore, the latter can be modified so that the air flows produced by the two blowers are at least partially in parallel.

Claims (11)

Claims 1. Installation for air conditioning the passenger compartment (H) of a vehicle comprising heating means (40) for heating a stream of air, cooling means (72) for cooling a stream of air, means for circulation (14,52,64) for circulating air in contact with the heating means and / or with the cooling means, an aerator (38) for introducing into the passenger compartment air circulating under the action of the circulation means and, where appropriate, heated and / or cooled, said aerator being provided, for adjusting the air flow passing therethrough, with a mobile element (80) which can be moved manually between an open position minimum and a maximum open position, and temperature adjustment means acting on the heating and / or cooling and / or circulation means for adjusting the temperature of the air reaching the aerator, characterized in that said movable element is part of the adjustment means e and acts so that the air is heated and cooled in the minimum and maximum open positions respectively. 2. Installation according to claim 1, characterized in that said movable element comprises a grid (84) through which air enters the passenger compartment and a deflector (87) which, in the minimum open position, protrudes in the path taken by the air, in the maximum open position, to reach the grid. 3. Installation according to claim 2, characterized in that the movable element can be moved progressively between the positions of minimum opening and maximum opening, and that the deflector progressively advances in said path from the opening position. maximum to the minimum open position. 4. Installation according to one of claims 2 and 3, characterized in that the deflector contributes to defining, in the maximum open position and if necessary partly in the intermediate positions, a wall separating said path and the passenger compartment . 5. Installation according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the mobile element moves in a pivoting movement. 6. Installation according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the temperature adjusting action by the movable element is obtained by means of electrical contacts which are established as a function of the position thereof. 7. Installation according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the circulation means comprise a first blower (52) for circulating air in contact with the heating means (40) and a second blower (64) to circulate air in contact with the cooling means (72), and in that the movable element controls said blowers so that the first is in service and the second is out of service in the minimum open position, and vice versa in the maximum opening position, their speeds varying in opposite directions from one another for the possible intermediate positions. 8. Installation according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the circulation means comprise a movable shutter (22) making it possible to take air as desired inside and / or outside the passenger compartment to send it in contact with the heating means (40), and in that the movable element controls said shutter so that the air is taken exclusively inside in the position of maximum opening and at least in outside part in the minimum open position and in any intermediate positions. 9. Installation according to claim 8, characterized in that the air to be sent in contact with the heating means is taken exclusively from the outside in the minimum open position and in any intermediate positions. 10. Installation according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cooling means comprise an evaporator (72) placed in a coolant circuit so that the coolant receives heat from the air circulating in contact with the evaporator, and in that the movable element controls said refrigerant circuit so that the transfer of heat from the refrigerant to the air does not take place in the minimum open position and takes place at least in the maximum opening position. 11. Installation according to claim 10, characterized in that the refrigerant circuit comprises a compressor which is put into service by the movable element at least in the maximum open position.