JPH10338022A - Drainage system for vehicular air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make adequate the air flow in a lower layer, which is passed through an evaporator, and drain an upper layer by a simple construction by which a part such as a drain pipe can be eliminated from an upper side drain pan. SOLUTION: An evaporator 16 is accommodated inside an assembly of an upper side case 23 of an upper layer 5 and a lower side case 24 of a lower layer 8, which are assembled in the form of folding palms, an upper side pan 25 formed separately from both the cases 23, 24, is formed to a partition wall 9 between both the cases 23, 24 in the downstream of the air flow of the evaporator 16, in the form of a trough allowing catched water to flow aside. The upper side drain pan 25 catches water scattered from the evaporator 16 by the air flow of the upper layer 5 to allow the water to flow aside, and drains the water to a drainage passage 27 provided close to the side face of the lower side case 24. Thus, the drainage passage 27 connected to the upper side drain pan 25 does not make resistance to the air flow in the lower layer 8, which is passed through the evaporator 16, and thus an adequate air flow is ensured in the lower layer 8.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a drainage device from an upper layer of an evaporator unit in a vehicle air conditioner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an air conditioner for a vehicle, the inside of an air conditioning unit is divided into an upper layer and a lower layer. At the time of heating, inside air introduced into one layer from the vehicle interior is generated as conditioned air and blown out from a foot outlet. By generating outside air introduced into the other layer from the outside of the vehicle as air-conditioned air and blowing it out from the defrost outlet,
2. Description of the Related Art A two-layer air conditioner has been known which appropriately balances heating of a vehicle interior and anti-fog of a windshield with a small heating capacity. In this vehicle air conditioner, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No.
As disclosed in JP-A-91257, a partition wall between an upper layer and a lower layer of an evaporator unit is formed as an upper drain pan, and a drain pipe is provided at a central portion of the upper drain pan downward and integrally with the upper drain pan. Condensed water scattered from the evaporator core tube and corrugated fins to the heater core side by the upper layer airflow passing through the core is captured by the upper drain pan, and the drain pipe passes through the lower drain pan as the bottom of the evaporator unit to the outside of the vehicle Is known to drain into
See FIGS. 15 to 17 of the above publication).

[0003]

However, in the conventional drainage device, the drain pipe from the upper drain pan acts as a resistance to the lower airflow passing through the evaporator core, and the upper drain pan and the drain pipe are integrally provided. It has a complicated structure and is difficult to adopt.

[0004] Therefore, the present invention provides a vehicle air conditioner in which the lower layer air flow passing through the evaporator core is made an appropriate flow, and the upper layer can be drained with a simple structure in which components such as a drain pipe can be omitted from the upper drain pan. It is intended to provide a drainage device for the device.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a drainage device for an air conditioner for a vehicle, wherein the evaporator unit of the air conditioner for a vehicle has a lower opening having an air inlet and an air outlet as upper layers. An upper case, an upper open lower case having an air inlet and an air outlet as lower layers, an evaporator core housed in a combination of these cases in a jointed manner, and an airflow higher than the evaporator core. An upper drain pan formed separately from both cases as a partition wall between the two cases on the downstream side of the case, and water scattered from the evaporator core by an upper airflow passing through the evaporator core is captured by the upper drain pan. In the drainage system that drains water from the evaporator unit to the outside of the vehicle, the water trapped in the upper drain pan is formed into a gutter shape that flows sideways. It is characterized in that a drain passage leading to captured drain hole formed in a side portion of the flow-down direction of the water of the upper drain pan on the side of the lower case. According to the configuration of the first aspect, the water scattered from the evaporator core by the upper airflow is captured by the upper drain pan, and the water captured by the upper drain pan flows to the side to the side of the lower case from the drain hole. Since drainage is provided to the provided drainage passage, the disadvantage that the drainage passage leading to the upper drain pan becomes a resistance to airflow in the lower layer that has passed through the evaporator core,
Appropriate airflow can be ensured in the lower layer. Claim 2
The drainage device of the vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention is characterized in that the drainage passage according to claim 1 is formed by an outer surface of the evaporator core and a drainage channel forming recess provided in the lower case. According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the drain passage is formed by the outer surface of the evaporator core and the drain passage forming recess of the lower case, the upper drain pan has a simple structure in which a separate component such as a drain pipe is omitted. More trapped water can be drained appropriately. The drainage device for a vehicle air conditioner according to a third aspect is characterized in that the drainage channel forming recess according to the second aspect is formed in a vertical groove whose upper end is opened. According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the drainage channel forming recess is formed in the upper case-opened lower groove in the vertical groove having the upper end opened, the drainage is formed by the molding die for resin-forming the lower case. The slide mechanism for forming the path forming recess can be omitted. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a drainage device for a vehicle air conditioner, wherein a water intake portion of a vertical groove having an upper end opened in the drainage channel forming concave portion according to any one of the second and third aspects is directed from the evaporator core to the airflow direction. Is characterized in that it bulges downstream of the. According to the configuration of claim 4, since the intake portion of the vertical groove whose upper end is opened in the drainage channel forming recess is formed to bulge downstream from the evaporator core in the air flow direction, the intake portion is formed by the upper drain pan. The water flowing out of the drain hole can be appropriately guided to a drain passage provided on the side of the lower case and the evaporator core. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a drainage device for an air conditioner for a vehicle, wherein the upper drain pan according to the first aspect is sandwiched between butt joint portions of an upper case and a lower case. According to the configuration of the fifth aspect, since the upper drain pan is sandwiched between the butting and joining portions of the upper case and the lower case, the mounting structure of the upper drain pan can be simplified. The drainage device for a vehicle air conditioner according to claim 6 is characterized in that a shelf for accommodating the periphery of the upper drain pan is formed on the inner periphery of the lower case according to claim 1. According to this configuration, the upper drain pan can be housed in the shelf formed on the inner peripheral edge of the lower case, and the upper drain pan can be accurately positioned and arranged.

[0006]

1 to 5 show a first embodiment, FIG. 1 schematically shows a mechanism of a vehicle air conditioner, FIG. 2 shows an exploded view of an evaporator unit 22, and FIG. Shows the assembled evaporator unit 22 in FIG.
FIG. 4 shows a cross section corresponding to a state cut along the line A, FIG. 4 shows an upper surface in which the lower case 24 of the evaporator unit 22 is combined with the evaporator core 16 and the upper drain pan 25, and FIG. The detail of the cross section cut along the line BB shown in FIG.

In FIG. 1, an air conditioning unit 1 for air-conditioning the interior of a vehicle includes an upper layer 5 that generates outside air 3 introduced from outside the interior of the duct into conditioned air 4 and blows the air into the interior of the duct 2.
And a lower layer 8 which generates inside air 6 introduced from the cabin into the conditioned air 7 and blows the air into the cabin. The upper layer 5 has an outside air inlet 10 at the upstream end of the duct 2,
The downstream end of the duct 2 has a defrost outlet 11. The lower layer 8 has an inside air inlet 12 at the upstream end of the duct 2,
A heat outlet 13 is provided at the downstream end of the duct 2. Inside the duct 2, separate blower fans 14 and 15 for each layer, evaporator cores 16 for each layer, air mix doors 17 and 18 for each layer, heater cores 19 for each layer, and outlet doors corresponding to the air outlets 11 and 13. 20, 21 are arranged in order from the upstream side to the downstream side. Then, a refrigerant is supplied to the inside of the evaporator core 16 from a refrigeration cycle (not shown), and a heating medium is supplied to the inside of the heater core 19 from a heating cycle (not shown), and each of the blower fans 14 and 15 is rotated by the blower motor 22. Thereby, the outside air 3 introduced into the upper layer 5 from the outside air inlet 10 and the inside air 6 introduced into the lower layer 8 from the inside air inlet 12 pass through the evaporator core 16 while being separated. The outside air 3 and the inside air 6 that have been cooled by passing through the evaporator core 16 are heated by the heater core 19 according to the opening degree of each of the air mix doors 17 and 18.
, And warm outside air and warm inside air passing through the heater core 19. The cold outside air / cold inside air and the warm outside air / warm inside air are mixed on the downstream side of the heater core 19 to form the appropriate conditioned air 4 and 7 for each layer. then,
In the upper layer 5, the conditioned air 4 is blown out toward the windshield from the defrost outlet 11 with the outlet door 20 opened. In the lower layer 8, the conditioned air 7 is blown out from the heat outlet 13 in which the blowout door 21 is opened toward the feet of the occupant.
Although not shown, in one or both of the upper layer 5 and the lower layer 8, at the downstream end of the duct 2, a vent outlet for blowing the conditioned air 4 or 7 toward the upper body of the occupant, and a corresponding outlet door May be provided. In upper layer 5, duct 2
In addition to the outside air introduction port 10, an inside air introduction port and an intake door that opens one of them and closes the other may be provided at the upstream end.

The evaporator unit 22 incorporating the evaporator core 16 of this embodiment has an upper case 23 on the upper layer 5 and a lower case 24 on the lower layer 8.
The partition wall 9 between the upper layer 5 and the lower layer 8 on the downstream side in the air flow direction from the evaporator core 16 is provided as an upper drain pan 25 separately from the upper case 23 and the lower case 24,
The bottom of the lower case 24 is provided integrally with the lower case 24 as a lower drain pan 26, and a drain passage 27 is provided on the side of the lower case 24, and water scattered from the evaporator core 16 by the airflow of the upper layer 5 is provided. The water is caught by the upper drain pan 25 and drained from the drain port 28 of the lower case 24 to the outside of the vehicle via the drain passage 27 and the lower drain pan 26 in order. The upper case 23, the lower case 24, and the upper drain pan 25 are made of the same synthetic resin having cold water resistance to water scattered from the evaporator core 16.

As shown also in FIG. 2, the upper case 23
An upstream side wall 2 having a bottomed open cylindrical shape and having an air flow direction;
3a has an air inlet 23b in the upper layer 5 (see FIG. 1), and the downstream side wall 23c has an air outlet 23d in which the lower edge of the upper layer 5 is cut out, in a direction orthogonal to the air flow direction. The core accommodating portions 23g, 23 are provided on the opposed left and right walls 23e, 23f.
h is formed as a vertical groove having a lower opening bulging outward from the inner side, and a flange 23i is protruded from the entire outer peripheral edge of the lower opening.

The lower case 24 has an upper open bottomed cylindrical shape combined with the upper case 23 in a palm-shape manner.
Has an air inlet 24b in the lower layer 8 (see FIG. 1) in the upstream side wall 24a in the air flow direction, and has an air outlet 24d in the lower layer 8 whose upper edge is cut out in the downstream side wall 24c. Left and right walls 24 facing each other in a direction perpendicular to the air flow direction
e and 24f have a core accommodating portion 23g of the upper case 23,
The core accommodating portions 24g and 24h corresponding to 23h are formed as longitudinal grooves bulging outward from the inside, and one of the core accommodating portions 24g and 24h has a drainage channel forming recess 24 formed therein.
i is formed as a vertical groove bulging outward from the inside.
The vertical grooves as the core housing portions 24g and 24h are open at the upper end and are stepwise closed at the lower end above the bottom as the lower drain pan 26. The drainage channel forming recess 24i is closed so that the upper end is open and the lower end is lower than the core accommodating portions 24g and 24h and continues to the lower drain pan 26. The upper opening of the drainage channel forming recess 24i is located at the water intake portion 24j.
Are formed stepwise so as to swell toward the downstream side in the air flow direction from the core housing portion 24h. In the lower case 24, flanges 24k are protruded from the entire outer peripheral edge of the upper opening, and shelves 24m, 24n are formed on the inner peripheral edge of the upper opening on the downstream side in the air flow direction from the core housing portions 24g, 24h, The shelves 24m and 24n support the upper drain pan 25 so that the upper surface of the upper drain pan 25 is substantially flush with the upper surface of the flange 24k.

As shown in FIG. 4, the upper drain pan 25 is received by the shelves 24m and 24n of the lower case 24, so that the lower drain pan 25 is located in the core housing portions 24g and 24h downstream of the evaporator core 16 in the air flow direction. Adjacent to the stored evaporator core 16, the upper opening of the lower case 24 and the lower opening of the upper case 23 are closed to each other, and water scattered from the evaporator core 16 is captured. Has a single flow gutter shape flowing toward the water intake portion 24j, and a drain hole 2 is formed at the bottom of the gutter shape.
5a is formed, and the trapped water flows out to the water inlet 24j of the lower case 24 through the drain hole 25a.

The upper case 23 and the lower case 2
4. To assemble the evaporator unit 22 with the upper drain pan 25 and the evaporator core 16, the left and right sides of the evaporator core 16 are housed in the core housing portions 24g and 24h from above the lower case 24. As a result, the drain passage 27 is formed between one of the left and right outer surfaces of the evaporator core 16 and the drain passage forming recess 24 i of the lower case 24.
(See FIG. 4) is formed. The upper drain pan 25 is housed in the shelves 24m and 24n such that the upper drain pan 25 covers the opening on the downstream side in the air flow direction of the evaporator core 16 from above the lower case 24. And
The evaporator core 16 projecting from the lower case 24 is taken into the core accommodating portions 23 g and 23 h of the upper case 23 so as to cover the upper case 23 from above, and the flange 23 i of the upper case 23 and the flange 2 of the lower case 24 are taken.
4k, butts on both flanges 23
i and 24k are connected by a clip (not shown). This allows
As shown in FIG. 3, the upper drain pan 25 is connected to the shelves 24 m and 24 n of the lower case 24 and the flange 2 of the upper case 23.
3i, a part of the partition wall 9 between the upper layer 5 and the lower layer 8 in the evaporator unit 22 shown in FIG.

When assembling the evaporator unit 22, as shown in FIG. 5, heat insulating materials 29 and 30 called linings are provided on the inner peripheral surface of the lower case 24 and the left and right outer surfaces of the evaporator core 16, respectively. The drainage passage 27 is surrounded by these heat insulating materials 29 and 30.
Although not shown, a heat insulating material similar to the heat insulating material 29 is also provided on the inner peripheral surfaces of the lower drain pan 26 and the upper case 23 to prevent dew.

According to the structure of this embodiment, during the operation of the air conditioning unit 1, the water scattered from the evaporator core 16 due to the airflow in the upper layer 5 is discharged to the upper drain pan 25.
After being collected at one side of the evaporator unit 22 and collected at one side of the evaporator unit 22, the evaporator core 16 as shown by an arrow Y in FIG. 2 through a drain hole 25 a of the upper drain pan 25 and an intake port 24 j of the lower case 24. Through a drain passage 27 formed by an outer surface of the lower case 24 and a drain passage forming recess 24i of the lower case 24, and is drained to the outside of the vehicle through a drain port 28 of the lower case 24 via a lower drain pan 26. Further, water dropped from the evaporator core 16 and water scattered from the evaporator core 16 due to the airflow in the lower layer 8 are captured by the lower drain pan 26 and drained out of the vehicle through the drain port 28.

In short, in this embodiment, the water trapped in the upper drain pan 25 is drained to the drain passage 27 provided on one side of the evaporator unit 22, so that the drain passage 27 from the upper drain pan 25 passes through the evaporator core 16. Inconvenience such as resistance of the airflow in the lower layer 8 can be solved, and an appropriate flow of the airflow in the lower layer 8 can be secured. Further, since the drain passage 27 is formed by the outer surface of the evaporator core 16 and the drain passage forming recess 24i of the lower case 24, the water trapped by the upper drain pan 25 has a simple structure in which other components such as a drain pipe are omitted. Can be properly drained. Also, for the lower case 24 that is open upward,
Since the drainage channel forming recess 24i and the water intake portion 24j are formed as vertical grooves having an open upper end, the drainage channel forming concave portion 24i and the water intake portion 24j are formed from a mold used for resin molding of the lower case 24. The slide mechanism for
The structure of the mold can be simplified to reduce costs. In addition, since the upper drain pan 25 is sandwiched between the connecting portions of the upper case 23 and the lower case 24, the mounting structure of the upper drain pan 25 can be simplified. Furthermore, since the upper drain pan 25 is stored in the shelves 24m and 24n formed on the inner peripheral edge of the lower case 24, the upper drain pan 25 can be accurately positioned and arranged.

FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment, in which the lower case 2
Left and right walls 31a, 31b of the lower case 31 corresponding to 4
The drainage channel forming recess 3 corresponding to the drainage channel forming recess 24i
1c, 31d, and an intake 3 corresponding to the intake 24j.
1e and 31f are provided. The upper drain pan 32 corresponding to the upper drain pan 25 has a double-flow gutter configuration in which the captured water flows toward the left and right water intakes 31 e and 31 f of the lower case 31. The drainage ports 32a, 32b formed at the lowermost portion allow the trapped water to pass through the left and right water intake ports 31e, 31f of the lower case 31, and the left and right drainage channel forming recesses 31c, 31d corresponding to the drainage passage 27. The water flows out into drain passages 33 and 34 formed by the outer surfaces of the evaporator core 16 and the evaporator core 16.

In the above embodiment, the drain passage 27 is formed between the lower case 24 and the evaporator core 16.
The drain passage is located downstream of the evaporator core 16 in the airflow direction, and the left and right side walls 24 e,
The same applies if one or both of the 24f are formed in a vertical groove bulging outward from the inside. In this case, the water intake 2
4j, 31e and 31f are not connected to the drainage passage in a stepped manner,
It is also possible to form in the same vertical groove and to include it in the drainage passage.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the upper drain pan is formed in the form of a gutter in which trapped water flows laterally, and communicates with the drain hole formed on the side of the upper drain pan in the downward direction of the trapped water. By disposing the drain passage on the side of the lower case, the disadvantage that the drain passage leading to the upper drain pan becomes a resistance of the air flow in the lower layer passing through the evaporator core is eliminated, and an appropriate air flow is provided to the lower layer. Can be secured. According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the drain passage is formed by the outer surface of the evaporator core and the drain passage forming recess of the lower case, the upper drain pan has a simple structure without a separate component such as a drain pipe. More trapped water can be drained appropriately. According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the drainage channel forming recess is formed in the vertical groove having an open upper end with respect to the upper open lower case, the drainage can be drained from the molding die when the lower case is molded with resin. A slide mechanism for forming the path forming recess is omitted, and the structure of the mold can be simplified to reduce the cost. According to the invention of claim 4, since the intake portion of the vertical groove whose upper end is opened in the drainage channel forming concave portion is formed to bulge downstream from the evaporator core in the air flow direction, the upper drain pan is formed at the intake portion. The water flowing out of the drain hole can be appropriately guided to a drain passage provided on the side of the lower case and the evaporator core. According to the invention of claim 5, since the upper drain pan is sandwiched between the butting and joining portions of the upper case and the lower case, the mounting structure of the upper drain pan can be simplified. Claim 6
According to the invention, since the upper drain pan is stored in the shelf formed on the inner peripheral edge of the lower case, the upper drain pan can be accurately positioned and arranged.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle air conditioner according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the evaporator unit according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view corresponding to the line AA shown in FIG. 4 of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the lower case of the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line BB shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Air-conditioning unit 5 Upper layer 8 Lower layer 9 Partition 16 Evaporator core 22 Evaporator unit 23 Upper case 24 Lower case 24i Drainage channel forming recess 24j Water intake 24m, 24n Shelf 25 Upper drain pan 25a Drain hole 26 Lower drain pan 27 Drain passage 28 Drain Mouth

Claims (6)

[Claims] An evaporator unit for a vehicle air conditioner includes an upper case having an air inlet and an air outlet as upper layers, and an upper case having an air inlet and an air outlet as lower layers. The lower case, the evaporator core housed inside these cases combined in a palm shape, and the two cases as separate walls between the two cases on the downstream side of the airflow from this evaporator core. In the drainage device having the formed upper drain pan and catching water scattered from the evaporator core by the upper air flow passing through the evaporator core with the upper drain pan and discharging the water from the evaporator unit to the outside of the vehicle, the water trapped in the upper drain pan is A drain hole formed in the shape of a gutter that flows to the side, and formed in the downward direction of the water captured by the upper drain pan A drainage device for an air conditioner for a vehicle, wherein a drainage passage communicating with the air conditioner is provided on a side portion of the lower case. 2. The drainage device for a vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the drainage passage is formed by an outer surface of an evaporator core and a drainage passage forming recess provided in a lower case. 3. The drainage device for a vehicle air conditioner according to claim 2, wherein the drainage channel forming recess is formed in a vertical groove having an upper end opened. 4. The water intake portion of a vertical groove having an upper end opened in the drainage channel forming concave portion is formed so as to bulge downstream from an evaporator core in an air flow direction. The drainage device for a vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1. 5. The drainage device for an air conditioner for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the upper drain pan is sandwiched between butt joint portions of an upper case and a lower case. 6. The drainage device for an air conditioner for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein a shelf for accommodating a periphery of the upper drain pan is formed on an inner periphery of the lower case.