JP2001158229A - Air conditioner for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air conditioner facilitating the maintenance of a deodorizing member. SOLUTION: A unit case 21 (deodorizing case) is provided in an intake housing 11 constituting a part of a main body of an air conditioner so as to take it in and out. Moreover, a support piece 13b (support means) is provided apart from the unit case 21 on an upper plate 13 (guide plate) of a blower housing 12 constituting the other part of the main body thereof. A deodorizing filter 24 (deodorizing member) carrying an absorber and photocatalyst is stored in the unit case 21, and an ultraviolet ray lamp 30 (light source) is supported on the support piece 13b.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner for a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an air conditioner for a vehicle is provided with a device body having an air passage formed therein, and a deodorizing filter (deodorizing member) for preventing an odorous substance from being sent into a vehicle interior in the air passage. And an ultraviolet lamp (light source). The deodorizing filter has an adsorbent that adsorbs odorous substances,
A photocatalyst that decomposes the odorous substance by receiving the ultraviolet rays from the ultraviolet lamp is supported. The deodorizing filter and the ultraviolet lamp are housed in one unit case, and the unit case is housed so as to be able to be taken in and out of the apparatus main body.

[0003]

The deodorizing filter needs to be periodically replaced or maintenance performed to remove clogging. This maintenance includes an operation of taking the unit case in and out of the apparatus main body. However, in the above conventional structure, since the unit case is provided with not only a deodorizing filter but also an ultraviolet lamp, it is necessary to disconnect or connect the electrode of the ultraviolet lamp from the connection terminal for current supply when inserting and removing the unit. No. Care must also be taken to take out and put in the UV lamp so as not to damage it. Therefore, there is a problem that maintenance of the deodorizing filter is not easy.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an adsorbent for adsorbing an odorous substance in the air, comprising an apparatus main body having an air passage formed therein. In a vehicle air conditioner in which a deodorizing member carrying a photocatalyst that decomposes the odorous substance and a light source that irradiates the photocatalyst with light to cause the decomposition action are housed, the device main body includes a deodorizing case. Is provided so as to be able to be taken in and out, and a supporting means is provided apart from the deodorizing case, the deodorizing member is housed in the deodorizing case, and the light source is supported by the supporting means.

A second invention is characterized in that, in the first invention, a light source case is provided in the apparatus main body so as to be able to be taken in and out, and the light source case is provided with the support means.

In a third aspect based on the second aspect, a blower is provided in the air passage downstream of the deodorizing member, and a guide plate is provided between the blower and the deodorizing member. The plate has a guide port connected to the suction port of the blower, guides air to the suction port, and the light source case is provided between the guide plate and the deodorizing member. A base plate is slidably superimposed on the guide plate, and the base plate is provided with the support means, and a communication port connected to the guide port is formed.

A fourth invention is characterized in that, in the third invention, an upstream side surface of the base plate is a reflection surface for reflecting light of the light source.

In a fifth aspect based on the first aspect, a blower is provided in the air passage downstream of the deodorizing member, and a guide plate is provided between the blower and the deodorizing member. The plate has a guide port connected to the suction port of the blower, guides air to the suction port, and the support means is provided on an upstream side surface of the guide plate.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fifth aspects, on the opposite side of the deodorizing member with the light source interposed therebetween,
A reflecting means for reflecting the light of the light source is provided.

In a seventh aspect based on any one of the first to sixth aspects, the deodorizing member is bent so as to form a wave shape, and the light source is orthogonal to a bending direction of the deodorizing member. It is characterized by extending like this.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an air conditioner for a vehicle according to a first embodiment of the present invention. This device includes a device main body 10. The upstream portion of the apparatus main body 10 includes an intake housing 11 and a blower housing 12 connected to the intake housing 11. Intake housing 11 has intake door D
1, an inside air suction port 11a and an outside air suction port 11b opened and closed, and an air passage 11c connected to these suction ports 11a and 11b are formed. Air passage 11c
Is provided with a dust collecting and deodorizing unit 20, and two ultraviolet lamps 30 (light sources) are further provided downstream thereof. The dust collecting and deodorizing unit 20 and the ultraviolet lamp 3
Since 0 is related to the gist of the present invention, it will be described in detail later.

The lower end of the intake housing 11 is connected to an upper plate 13 (guide plate) of the blower housing 12. The upper plate 13 is formed with a guide port 13a called a bell mouth which extends downward and gradually decreases in diameter.

The blower housing 12 has an air passage 12a.
And a blower 40 whose axis is oriented vertically is accommodated in the air passage 12a. A suction port 40a is formed on the upper surface of the blower 40, and the suction port 40a is connected to the guide port 13a. By driving the blower 40, air is taken into the air passage 11 c from the suction ports 11 a and 11 b of the intake housing 11. This air passes through the dust collection and deodorization unit 20,
The air is sucked into the suction port 40a along the guide port 13a, and is sent out from the suction port 40a in the radial direction of the blower 40.
Thereafter, the air is prevented from flowing back to the air passage 11c of the intake housing 11 by the upper plate 13, flows downstream along the air passage 12a of the blower housing 12, and a duct (not shown) connected to the blower housing 12. In this process, the temperature is adjusted by an evaporator and a heater core, and then blown out into the passenger compartment.

The dust collecting and deodorizing unit 20 according to the gist of the present invention
And the ultraviolet lamp 30 will be described. The dust collecting and deodorizing unit 20 includes a unit case 21 (deodorizing case) having a frame shape. The unit case 21 can be taken in and out of the intake housing 11 by opening a door D2 provided in the intake housing 11.

The unit case 21 houses a filter set 22. The filter set 22 includes a dust collecting filter 23 made of a nonwoven fabric and a deodorizing filter 24 (a deodorizing member) also made of a nonwoven fabric. The dust collecting filter 23 is arranged on the upstream side of the air passage 11c. Are arranged on the downstream side and are attached to each other. As shown in FIG. 2, this filter set 2
2, that is, the filters 23 and 24 are bent to form a corrugated shape. The deodorizing filter 24 carries an adsorbent made of powder such as activated carbon, zeolite, and silica gel, and a photocatalyst made of metal oxide powder such as titanium oxide and zinc oxide.

Next, the ultraviolet lamp 30 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.
Has a straight pipe shape, and extends in a horizontal direction orthogonal to the bending direction of the filters 23 and 24. Electrodes 31 are provided at both ends of the ultraviolet lamp 30, and lead wires 32 extend from these electrodes 31. Lead wire 3
The plug 33 at the second end is connected to an outlet 34 (connection terminal for current supply) provided in the intake housing 11.

The support structure of the ultraviolet lamp 30 will be described. On the upper surface (upstream side surface) of the upper plate 13 of the blower housing 12, a large support piece 13b (support means) and a small support piece 13c are provided. An ultraviolet lamp 30 is supported on the supporting piece 13b, and a lead wire 3 is mounted on the supporting piece 13c.
2 are supported.

The dust collecting and deodorizing unit 20 and the ultraviolet lamp 3 in the vehicle air conditioner configured as described above.
The operation of 0 will be described. The air taken into the air passage 11c from the inlets 11a and 11b usually contains dust and odorous substances such as acetaldehyde. When the air passes through the dust collection filter 23, the dust is captured by the dust collection filter 23. Next, when passing through the deodorizing filter 24, the odorous substance is adsorbed by the adsorbent of the deodorizing filter 24. This prevents dust and odorous substances from being sent into the vehicle interior.

When the ultraviolet rays from the ultraviolet lamp 30 strike the photocatalyst of the deodorizing filter 24, the photocatalyst is excited. This excited photocatalyst decomposes the odor substance adsorbed by the adsorbent into another substance having no odor,
Release from adsorbent. This makes it possible for the adsorbent to reliably adsorb newly coming odorous substances and to maintain a high adsorption capacity.

Since the ultraviolet lamp 30 extends perpendicular to the fold of the waveform of the deodorizing filter 24, the deodorizing filter 2
The photocatalyst can be excited by irradiating the whole of 4 with ultraviolet rays, and the odorous substance of the adsorbent can be decomposed over the entire deodorizing filter 24. The excited photocatalyst adsorbs and decomposes odorous substances by itself, or generates OH radicals from moisture in the air, and oxidizes the odorous substances by the OH radicals. Furthermore, the OH radicals also kill bacteria that generate odorous substances.

In this vehicle air conditioner, the filter 2
Since the support piece 13b for supporting the ultraviolet lamp 30 is provided at a distance from the unit case 21 for accommodating the ultraviolet lamp 30, the plug 3 of the ultraviolet lamp 30 is used for maintenance such as replacement of the filters 23 and 24 and removal of clogging.
The unit case 21 can be taken out of the intake housing 11 without removing the unit 3 from the outlet 34, and there is no risk of damaging the ultraviolet lamp 30 at this time. Therefore, the filters 23 and 24
Can be easily maintained.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
In the second embodiment, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals in the drawings, and description thereof is omitted. As shown in FIG. 3, in the second embodiment of the present invention,
Upper plate 1 of dust collecting and deodorizing unit 20 and blower housing 12
A lamp case 50 (light source case) is provided in an air passage 11c between the lamp case 50 and the lamp case 3. The lamp case 50 can be put in and taken out of the intake housing 11 by opening a door D3 provided in the intake housing 11.

The lamp case 50 has a frame 51 and a base plate 52 provided on the downstream side thereof. The base plate 52 is slidably overlapped on the upper plate 13 of the blower housing 12 and supported. ing. This base plate 52
In addition, a support piece 53 (support means) for supporting the ultraviolet lamp 30 and a support piece 54 for supporting the lead wire 32 are provided.

A communication port 52 a is formed in the base plate 52, and the communication port 52 a is connected to the guide port 13 a of the upper plate 13. This allows air to flow from the air passage 11c of the intake housing 11 to the guide port 13a via the communication port 52a. Moreover, the communication port 5
2a gradually decreases in diameter as it goes downward, and is smoothly connected to the guide port 13a without any step. This allows air to flow smoothly from the communication port 52a to the guide port 13a.

On the upper surface of the base plate 52 (on the side opposite to the deodorizing member across the light source), there is provided a reflection film 55 (reflection means) made of metal plating, metal paint, glossy adhesive tape, or the like. (The upstream side surface of the base plate 52 is a reflection surface). The reflection film 55 reflects the ultraviolet light emitted from the ultraviolet lamp 30 to the opposite side of the deodorizing filter 24 and can apply the ultraviolet light to the photocatalyst of the deodorizing filter 24, thereby increasing the utilization of the ultraviolet light.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can adopt various forms. For example, the dust collection and deodorization unit 2
0 and the ultraviolet lamp 30 may be arranged downstream of the blower 40. In the second embodiment, the reflection film 55 may be provided on the inner peripheral surface of the guide port 13a, the blower 40, and the like. First
Also in the embodiment, the reflection film 55 may be provided on the upper plate 13 of the blower housing 12, the blower 40, or the like. In the deodorizing member, the supporting portion for the adsorbent and the supporting portion for the photocatalyst may be configured as separate members.

[0027]

As described above, in the first invention,
The deodorizing case can be taken in and out without removing and connecting the electrode of the light source from the current supply connection terminal, and the light source can be taken in and out without fear of damaging the light source, so that the maintenance of the deodorizing member can be easily performed. In the second aspect, maintenance such as replacement of the light source can be easily performed. In the third aspect, the light source frame can be stably supported by the guide plate. According to the fourth aspect, the degree of utilization of light from the light source can be increased.
The formation of the reflection surface is easy. According to the fifth aspect, the support means can be securely fixed to the apparatus main body, and thus the light source can be reliably supported. In the sixth aspect, the light emitted from the light source to the opposite side of the deodorizing member can be reflected and applied to the photocatalyst of the deodorizing member, and the utilization of light can be increased. According to the seventh aspect, by forming the deodorizing member in a corrugated shape, the surface area is increased as compared with the case where the deodorizing member is flat, and the carrying amount of the adsorbent and the photocatalyst can be increased. In addition, by making the bending direction of the deodorizing member orthogonal to the axial direction of the light source, the light of the light source can be applied to the entire deodorizing member, and the odorous substance can be decomposed by the photocatalyst over the entire deodorizing member.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a vehicle air conditioner according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the device taken along line II-II of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a vehicle air conditioner according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Description of Signs] 10 Device body 11c, 12a Air passage 13 Upper plate (guide plate) 13a Guide port 13b, 52 Supporting piece (supporting means) 21 Unit case (deodorizing case) 24 Deodorizing filter (deodorizing member) 30 Ultraviolet lamp ( Light source) 40 Blower 40a Suction port 50 Lamp case (light source case) 52 Base plate 52a Communication port 55 Reflective film (reflective means)

Claims (7)

[Claims] An apparatus main body having an air passage formed therein;
An adsorbent for adsorbing odorous substances in the air,
And a deodorizing member carrying a photocatalyst that decomposes the odorant, and a light source that irradiates the photocatalyst with light to cause the decomposing action. A case is provided so as to be able to be taken in and out, and a supporting means is provided apart from the deodorizing case. The deodorizing member is accommodated in the deodorizing case, and the light source is supported by the supporting means. Air conditioner for vehicles. 2. The air conditioner for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein a light source case is provided in the apparatus main body so as to be able to be taken in and out, and the support means is provided in the light source case. 3. A blower is provided in the air passage downstream of the deodorizing member, and a guide plate is provided between the blower and the deodorizing member, and the guide plate is connected to a suction port of the blower. A base having a guide port for guiding air to the suction port, the light source case being provided between the guide plate and the deodorizing member, and the light source case being slidably superimposed on the guide plate; Have a plate, this base plate has
The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 2, wherein the support means is provided, and a communication port connected to the guide port is formed. 4. The air conditioner for a vehicle according to claim 3, wherein an upstream side surface of the base plate is a reflection surface that reflects light of the light source. 5. A blower is provided in the air passage downstream of the deodorizing member, and a guide plate is provided between the blower and the deodorizing member, and the guide plate is connected to a suction port of the blower. The air conditioner for a vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising a guide port for guiding air to the suction port, wherein the support means is provided on an upstream side surface of the guide plate. 6. A vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein a reflecting means for reflecting light from said light source is provided on the opposite side of said deodorizing member with respect to said light source. apparatus. 7. The deodorizing member according to claim 1, wherein the deodorizing member is bent so as to form a wave shape, and the light source extends so as to be orthogonal to a bending direction of the deodorizing member. The vehicle air conditioner according to any one of the above.