AIR CONDITIONER FOR A VEHICLE
Provided is an air conditioner for a vehicle, which has an improved condensate discharging structure so as to prevent condensate from being leaked through a divided surface of a left and right divided type air conditioning case. To this end, a condensate discharging port is formed at a lower side of an evaporator of the first and second cases, and a partition wall is formed from a lower side of a drain passage to an upper side thereof so that the condensate is flowed through the condensate discharging passage without a leakage of the condensate.
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The present invention claims priority of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2009-0016491, filed on Feb. 26, 2009, which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air conditioner for a vehicle, and more particularly, to an air conditioner for a vehicle, which has an improved condensate discharging structure so as to prevent condensate from being leaked through a divided surface of a left and right divided type air conditioning case.
2. Description of Related Art
In a heating ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) system for controlling internal air of a vehicle, refrigerant is compressed by using a vehicle power system and condensed by external air and then rapidly expanded and evaporated, and the internal air may be ventilated to an evaporator and cooled by heat exchange at the evaporator when the refrigerant is evaporated, thereby obtaining cooled air, and also the internal air may be ventilated to a heater core and heated by heat exchange at the heater core using cooling water heated by an vehicle engine, thereby obtaining warm air.
Generally, a (three-piece type) air conditioning case for a vehicle includes a left case, a right case and a lower case.
According to an air ventilation process in the air conditioning case, external air is introduced into the air-conditioning case using a blower (not shown) and then passed through an evaporator. Since the evaporator is maintained at a lower temperature than an ambient temperature in a cooling mode, condensate is generated on a surface of the evaporator due to a low saturated vapor pressure.
As shown in
In the air conditioner 1, the air ventilated into the air conditioning case 20 by the ventilator unit 10 is passed through the evaporator E and then cooled or heated during an air conditioning process that selectively passes through the heater core by the temperature controlling door. The cooled or heated air is supplied into the vehicle through each duct connected with the plurality of air outlet ports 24, thereby obtaining a desired air conditioning effect.
Meanwhile, when the air conditioning system is operated, since cooled refrigerant is circulated in the evaporator E, condensate is generated around the evaporator E during a heat exchange process with the external air.
The condensate is flowed down along the evaporator E or dropped to a lower side of the air conditioning case 20 by the ventilated air, and then discharged to an outside through a condensate discharging port 21 formed at a lower side of the air conditioning case 20.
Typically, the air conditioning case 20 is comprised of an upper case 20a, 20b, and an integral lower case 20c for preventing a leakage of the condensate. As shown in
The conventional air conditioning case 20 has following problems.
Since the lower case 20c is separately provided at the conventional air conditioning case 20 so as to prevent the leakage of the condensate generated at the evaporator E, a manufacturing cost is increased.
Further, since separate coupling means is required to couple the lower case 20c to the upper case having the left and right cases 20a and 20b, work effort is increased and work efficiency is deteriorated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAn embodiment of the present invention is directed to providing an air conditioning case having a left case and a right case, which efficiently prevents a leakage of condensate without a sealing member which is interposed between divided surfaces of the conventional air conditioning case, thereby reducing the number of components and the work effort.
To achieve the object of the present invention, the present invention provides an air conditioner for a vehicle, comprising an air conditioning case which is comprised of a first case and a second case; and an evaporator E which is installed in an inner space of the air conditioning case, wherein the first case comprises (a) a main drain passage which is provided with (1) a first side wall which is protruded to a lower side of the bottom surface of the first case, (2) a first bottom wall which is connected with the first side wall and (3) a first partition wall which is spaced apart from the first side wall, protruded to an upper side of the second bottom wall and bonded to the first partition wall, and (b) a first condensate discharging passage which is formed to be communicated with the main drain passage, and the second case comprises (a) a sub-drain passage which is provided with (1) a second side wall which is protruded to the lower side of the bottom surface of the second case, (2) a second bottom wall which is connected with the second side wall and (3) a second partition wall which is spaced apart from the second side wall and protruded to an upper side of the second bottom wall, and (b) a second condensate discharging passage which is formed to be communicated with the sub-drain passage, and a condensate discharging port is formed at a bottom surface of the first case and/or a bottom surface of the second case so as to guide condensate generated from the evaporator E to the main drain passage and/or the sub-drain passage.
A bent portion is formed at one of the first and second partition walls so as to cover an upper surface of the other partition wall. Preferably, a length L of the bent portion is formed to be larger than a sum l of thicknesses of the first and second partition walls.
Preferably, upper ends of the first and second partition wall are contacted with each other and bent toward the sub-drain passage.
Preferably, an upper end of the first partition wall is formed to be more protruded upward than an upper end of the second partition wall.
Preferably, the condensate discharging port is formed by inwardly concaving a part of a joint portion of the bottom surface of the first or second case.
Preferably, the condensate discharging port and 600b is provided in plural along the joint portion of the bottom surface of the first or second case so as to smoothly discharge the condensate even when the air conditioning case is inclined during movement of a vehicle.
Preferably, a center portion of the condensate discharging port is spaced apart in a predetermined distance D from the bonded surface of the first and second partition walls toward the main drain passage.
Preferably, the main and sub-drain passages 200 and 300 are downwardly inclined toward the first and second condensate discharging passage.
Preferably, the first and second condensate discharging passages are formed as semi-divided bodies so as to form a single drain pipe after they are coupled with each other.
Preferably, a partition is formed at the joint portion of the first and second condensate discharging passages so as to partition each of the main and sub-drain passages.
Preferably, a first groove is formed at a lower side of one of the first or second bottom wall and a first protrusion that is inserted into the first groove is also formed at a lower side of the other bottom wall.
Preferably, second and third grooves are formed at the bottom surface of one of the first and second cases, and second and third protrusions which are respectively inserted into the second and third grooves are formed at the bottom surface of the other case.
Further, the present invention provides an air conditioner for a vehicle, comprising an air conditioning case which is comprised of a first case and a second case; and an evaporator E which is installed in an inner space of the air conditioning case, wherein a condensate discharging port is formed at a bottom surface of the first or second case and a main drain passage and a sub-drain passage that are communicated with an inner space of the air conditioning case, in which the evaporator E is installed, and partitioned by a partition wall are formed so as to guide condensate discharged through the condensate discharging port to an outside, and a center portion of the condensate discharging port is spaced apart in a predetermined distance D from a center line of the partition wall.
Preferably, the partition wall is comprised of a first partition wall of the main drain passage and a second partition wall of the sub-drain passage and one of the first and the second partition wall has a bent portion so as to cover an upper surface of the other partition wall.
Preferably, the main drain passage and the sub-drain passage are formed to be respectively communicated with the first and second condensate discharging passage so that the condensate is discharged to an outside of the air conditioning case.
Preferably, a partition is formed at a joint portion of the first and second condensate discharging passages so as to partition the main drain passage and the sub-drain passage.
The present invention relates to an air conditioner for a vehicle, which has an improved condensate discharging structure so as to prevent condensate from being leaked through a divided surface of a left and right divided type air conditioning case. To this end, a condensate discharging port is formed at a bottom surface of a first or second case, and a drain passage is formed at the bottom surface so that the condensate flowed along the condensate port is flowed through the condensate discharging passage without a leakage problem, and the drain passage is formed as a divided passage by protruding a partition wall from a lower side thereof to an upper side. The advantages, features and aspects of the invention will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, which is set forth hereinafter.
The first and second cases 1000a and 1000b are symmetrically coupled to each other. For example, in mutual contacting surfaces of the first and second cases 1000a and 1000b, if a groove is formed at one of the contacting surfaces, a protrusion corresponding to the groove is formed at the other contacting surface. Therefore, as showing in the drawings, although the groove is formed at the first case 1000a and the protrusion is formed at the second case 1000b, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment. In other words, the groove may be formed at the second case 1000b and the protrusion may be formed at the first case 1000a, and other various coupling structures may be also applied.
Referring to
As shown in
With regard to the main drain passage 200, the description thereof including the first side wall 210, first bottom wall 220 and the first partition wall 230 is just provided for the sake of understanding the present invention. The drain passage may have various shapes, e.g., a rectangular or circular shape in section, which is formed to be protruded to a lower side of the bottom surface 100a so that the condensate dropped from the condensate discharging portion 600 is introduced to the first condensate discharging passage 400.
The condensate flowed along the main drain passage 200 is discharged to an outside through the first condensate discharging passage 400.
As shown in
The condensate flowed along the sub-drain passage 300 is discharged to an outside through the second condensate discharging passage 500.
As described above, the main drain passage 200 and the sub-drain passage 300 are respectively formed at the bottom surfaces 100a and 100b of the first and second cases 1000a and 1000b, and the first and second partition walls 230 and 330 allows them to be used as divided passages. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a leakage of the condensate due to the partition walls 230 and 330 which are respectively protruded to the upper side of the bottom surfaces 220 and 320 of the main and sub-drain passages 200 and 300 (referring to
In case that the first and second case 1000a and 1000b are coupled to each other, the condensate dropped from the outer surface of the evaporator E is flowed along right, left and lower walls and finally flowed along the bottom surfaces 100a and 100b of the first and second cases 1000a and 1000b. Herein, even if the condensate flowed along the bottom surface of the air conditioning case is leaked through a gap between the joint portions 110a and 110b for jointing the bottom surfaces 100a and 100b of the air conditioning case, the condensate is dropped to the main drain passage 200 or the sub-drain passage 300 and then flowed to the first or second condensate discharging passage 400 or 500 without a leakage of the condensate.
Meanwhile, the condensate may be leaked through a gap formed at a bonded surface 233 (reference to
Alternatively, as shown in
Referring to
Hereinafter, a position of the condensate discharging port 600 will be described with reference to
A slope is formed so that the main and sub-drain passages 200 and 300 are downwardly inclined toward the first and second condensate discharging passage 400 and 500. Referring to
In relation to this, the inventor of the present invention has performed an experiment in a state that the air conditioning case 1000 is inclined behind and front or left and right at an angle of 20°, and then confirmed a fact that the condensate was not leaked. The experiment was performed in a state that a vehicle air conditioner was operated at a high/low air volume when an external environment shows a high/low percentage of humidity, respectively. And in order to clearly confirm whether the condensate was leaked or not, a water-soluble paint having an opaque color was coated on the bonded surface of the first and second cases formed of a transparent material. Particularly, it was confirmed that the condensate was not leaked in a bad conditioned traveling state (e.g., the vehicle is inclined behind or front at an angle of 20°, or right or left at an angle of)20°.
As shown in
Referring to
Since the condensate discharging port 600 is formed at the first case 1000a, the second groove 120a is formed to be extended to an end side that the condensate discharging port 600 starts to be formed, and the second protrusion 120b is formed at the second case 1000b so as to be corresponding to the second groove 120a.
Preferably, the second groove 120a and the second protrusion 120b corresponding to the second groove 120a are formed in a desired height from the bottom surface 100a, 100b of the air conditioning case 1000. The desired height is one third of a height of the evaporator E. This is caused by that, even if the condensate is dropped to left and right side surfaces of the evaporator E, it is not apprehended due to a high dropping speed of the condensate that the condensate is leaked through a gap formed at the left and right side walls of the air conditioning case 1000.
Although not shown, in order to prepare for scattering of the condensate when the vehicle travels under bad conditions, the second and third grooves 120a and 130a corresponding to the second and third protrusions 120b and 130b may be formed to be extended to an end side of the first and second condensate discharging passages 400 and 500.
Referring to
Before the drain hose (not shown) is inserted onto outer surfaces of the first and second condensate discharging passages 400 and 500 having the above-mentioned shape and structure, a dash panel (not shown) for partitioning an internal portion of the vehicle and an engine room is interposed. The first and second condensate discharging passages 400 and 500 pass through the dash panel (not shown). Therefore, when the condensate discharging passages 400 and 500 may be vibrated together with the dash panel contacted with the outer surfaces of the condensate discharging passages 400 and 500 due to vibration of the vehicle, the vibration may be amplified, or the condensate discharging passages 400 and 500 may be damaged. In order to buffer the vibration, as shown in
According to the present invention, since a coupling structure of the left and right cases is improved, it is possible to prevent a leakage of the condensate that is occurred at the evaporator and also to drain the condensate to an outside without a separate lower case, thereby reducing the number of components and work effort for the lower case.
While the present invention has been described with respect to the specific embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.
Claims
1. An air conditioner for a vehicle, comprising:
- an evaporator; and
- an air conditioning case which is comprised of a first case and a second case, which the evaporator is installed in an inner space of the air conditioning case;
- wherein the first case comprises (a) a main drain passage which is provided with (1) a first side wall which is protruded to a lower side of the bottom surface of the first case, (2) a first bottom wall which is connected with the first side wall and (3) a first partition wall which is spaced apart from the first side wall and protruded to an upper side of the first bottom wall, and (b) a first condensate discharging passage which is formed to be communicated with the main drain passage, and
- the second case comprises (a) a sub-drain passage which is provided with (1) a second side wall which is protruded to the lower side of the bottom surface of the second case, (2) a second bottom wall which is connected with the second side wall and (3) a second partition wall which is spaced apart from the second side wall, protruded to an upper side of the second bottom wall and jointed to the first partition wall, and (b) a second condensate discharging passage which is formed to be communicated with the sub-drain passage, and
- a condensate discharging port is formed at a bottom surface of the first case and/or a bottom surface of the second case so as to guide condensate generated from the evaporator to the main drain passage and/or the sub-drain passage.
2. The air conditioner of claim 1, wherein a bent portion is formed at one of the first and second partition walls so as to cover an upper surface of the other partition wall.
3. The air conditioner of claim 2, wherein a length of the bent portion is formed to be larger than a sum of thicknesses of the first and second partition walls.
4. The air conditioner of claim 1, wherein upper ends of the first and second partition wall are contacted with each other and bent toward the sub-drain passage.
5. The air conditioner of claim 1, wherein an upper end of the first partition wall is formed to be more protruded upward than an upper end of the second partition wall.
6. The air conditioner of claim 1, wherein the condensate discharging port is formed by inwardly concaving a part of a joint portion of the bottom surface of the first or second case.
7. The air conditioner of claim 6, wherein the condensate discharging port is provided in plural along the joint portion of the bottom surface of the first or second case so as to smoothly discharge the condensate even when the air conditioning case is inclined during movement of a vehicle.
8. The air conditioner of claim 6, wherein a center portion of the condensate discharging port is spaced apart in a predetermined distance from the bonded surface of the first and second partition walls toward the main drain passage.
9. The air conditioner of claim 1, wherein the main and sub-drain passages are downwardly inclined toward the first and second condensate discharging passage.
10. The air conditioner of claim 9, wherein the first and second condensate discharging passages are formed as semi-divided bodies so as to form a single drain pipe after they are coupled with each other.
11. The air conditioner of claim 9, wherein a partition is formed at the joint portion of the first and second condensate discharging passages so as to partition each of the main and sub-drain passages.
12. The air conditioner of claim 1, wherein a first groove is formed at a lower side of one of the first or second bottom wall, and a first protrusion that is inserted into the first groove is also formed at a lower side of the other bottom wall.
13. The air conditioner of claim 12, wherein second and third grooves are formed at the bottom surface of one of the first and second cases, and second and third protrusions which are respectively inserted into the second and third grooves are formed at the bottom surface of the other case.
14. An air conditioner for a vehicle, comprising:
- an air conditioning case which is comprised of a first case 1000a and a second case; and
- an evaporator which is installed in an inner space of the air conditioning case,
- wherein a condensate discharging port is formed at a bottom surface of the first or second case, and a main drain passage and a sub-drain passage that are communicated with an inner space of the air conditioning case, in which the evaporator is installed, and partitioned by a partition wall are formed so as to guide condensate discharged through the condensate discharging port to an outside, and
- a center portion of the condensate discharging port is spaced in a predetermined distance apart from a center line of the partition wall.
15. The air conditioner of claim 14, wherein the partition wall is comprised of a first partition wall of the main drain passage and a second partition wall of the sub-drain passage, and one of the first and second partition wall has a bent portion so as to cover an upper surface of the other partition wall.
16. The air conditioner of claim 14, wherein the main drain passage and the sub-drain passage are formed to be respectively communicated with the first and second condensate discharging passage so that the condensate is discharged to an outside of the air conditioning case.
17. The air conditioner of claim 16, wherein a partition is formed at a joint portion of the first and second condensate discharging passages so as to partition the main drain passage and the sub-drain passage.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 16, 2009
Publication Date: Aug 26, 2010
Applicant: HALLA CLIMATE CONTROL CORP. (Daejeon)
Inventors: Young Chul Kim (Daejeon), Tae Yong Park (Daejeon)
Application Number: 12/580,451
International Classification: F25D 21/14 (20060101);