Air conditioning device for a vehicle

Abstract

Air conditioning device for a vehicle, comprising: an air conditioning system (100) which is provided behind a rear seat (30) in the vehicle and has a thermocouple (160) and a blower (180) to produce conditioned air; an inlet duct (120) that connects the air conditioning system (100) to a passenger compartment in order to introduce air from the passenger compartment into the air conditioning system (100); an outlet duct (140) connecting the air conditioning system (100) to a roof (10) above the rear seat (30) in the passenger compartment, in order to blow the conditioned air from the roof (10) towards an occupant (P) in the rear seat (30); and a cooler provided in a trunk (20) to cool heat from the thermocouple (160), wherein the thermocouple (160) performs air conditioning by electrical operation on the one hand and dissipates heat by radiation via the cooler on the other hand.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to an air conditioning device for a vehicle that provides optimal climate control for an occupant in a rear seat.

[0002] It is a common problem that the efficiency of the air conditioning for an occupant in a rear seat (efficiency of cooling the air and a seat) is not satisfactory, especially in premium vehicles.

[0003] Traditionally, a system was used in which air coming from a heating system was blown over a rear console to a rear seat, or a cooling / heating device with a thermocouple in a rear seat.

[0004] However, with existing air conditioning systems, the cooling air from the air conditioner does not reach the rear seat, so the direction and volume of the airflow are unsatisfactory, and a rear seat occupant may not feel sufficiently comfortable due to the poor efficiency of a (supplementary) seat cooling / heating device (poor radiative efficiency of a thermocouple).

[0005] DE 70 02 411 U and DE 18 13 877 U each describe an air conditioning device for a vehicle, comprising an air conditioning system located behind a rear seat in a vehicle and comprising a blower to generate conditioned air, an inlet duct connecting the air conditioning system to a passenger compartment to introduce air from the passenger compartment into the air conditioning system, an outlet duct connecting the air conditioning system to the passenger compartment, and a cooler to cool heat from the air conditioning system.

[0006] DE 103 46 342 A1 describes an air conditioning device for a vehicle, comprising an air conditioning system which has a blower to generate conditioned air, an inlet duct which connects the air conditioning system to a passenger compartment in order to introduce air from the passenger compartment into the air conditioning system, and an outlet duct which connects the air conditioning system to the passenger compartment.

[0007] The invention provides an air conditioning device for a vehicle that offers optimal climate control for a passenger in a rear seat.

[0008] This is achieved according to the invention by an air conditioning device for a vehicle according to the features of claim 1. Advantageous further developments are described in the dependent claims.

[0009] According to one aspect of the invention, an air conditioning device for a vehicle comprises: an air conditioning unit located behind a rear seat in a vehicle, comprising a thermocouple and a blower to generate conditioned air; an inlet duct connecting the air conditioning unit to a passenger compartment to introduce air from the passenger compartment into the air conditioning unit; an outlet duct connecting the air conditioning unit to a roof above the rear seat in the passenger compartment to blow the conditioned air from the roof towards a passenger in the rear seat; and a cooler located in a trunk to cool heat from the thermocouple, wherein the thermocouple performs air conditioning by electrical operation and dissipates heat by radiation via the cooler.

[0010] The inlet duct can be connected to a bottom of the air conditioner, and the outlet duct can be connected to a top of the air conditioner.

[0011] On one side of the air conditioning system, the exhaust duct can be provided on one side, and a vent opening can be provided on the other. A flap can be arranged between the exhaust duct and the vent opening to selectively open or close the exhaust duct and the vent opening. The vent opening can be connected to the trunk.

[0012] The intake duct can be connected to seat ventilation ducts installed in the rear seat in such a way that air from the passenger compartment is drawn through the rear seat and into the air conditioning system. The intake duct can also be connected to the seat ventilation ducts in the seat cushion and backrest of the rear seat. The seat ventilation ducts can be passageways that penetrate the seat.

[0013] On one outlet side of the air conditioner, the outlet duct can be provided on one side, and a discharge opening can be provided on another side; a flap can be arranged between the outlet duct and the discharge opening to selectively open or close the outlet duct and the discharge opening; and when the thermocouple is operated, the blower can be operated, and the discharge opening can be closed by means of the flap while the outlet duct can be open.

[0014] On one outlet side of the air conditioner, the outlet duct can be provided on one side, and a discharge opening can be provided on another side; a flap can be arranged between the outlet duct and the discharge opening to selectively open or close the outlet duct and the discharge opening; and when the thermocouple is not operating, the blower can be operated; and by means of the flap, the outlet duct can be closed while the discharge opening can be open.

[0015] The radiator can have cooling fins, a cooling fan, and a cooling line that connects the cooling fins to the thermocouple. The cooling line can be a heating pipe connected to the thermocouple.

[0016] The invention is explained in more detail with reference to the drawing. The drawing shows: Fig. 1 an air conditioning device for a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention; and Fig. 2 an air conditioning system of an air conditioning device for a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

[0017] An air conditioning device for a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention comprises an air conditioning unit 100, which is provided behind a rear seat 30 in a vehicle and has a thermocouple 160 and a blower 180 to generate conditioned air, an inlet duct 120 that connects the air conditioning unit 100 to a passenger compartment in such a way that it introduces the air in the passenger compartment into the air conditioning unit 100, an outlet duct 140 that connects the air conditioning unit 100 to a roof 10 above the rear seat 30 in the passenger compartment in such a way that the conditioned air is blown from the roof 10 towards a passenger P in the rear seat, and a cooler that is provided in a trunk 20 in such a way that it cools the heat from the thermocouple 160.

[0018] The air conditioning unit 100, which is provided at the rear of the rear seat 30 in the vehicle and has the thermocouple 160 and the blower 180 for generating conditioned air, as shown in Fig. The one shown in 1 can, for example, be installed in a trunk or on a parcel shelf.

[0019] Basically, the air conditioning unit 100 draws in air from the passenger compartment for conditioning and then exhausts the conditioned air. This results in improved efficiency. For this purpose, the inlet duct 120 connects the air conditioning unit 100 to the passenger compartment in such a way that it draws air from the passenger compartment into the air conditioning unit 100. The outlet duct 140 connects the air conditioning unit 100 to the roof 10 above the rear seat 30 in the passenger compartment in such a way that conditioned air is blown from the roof 10 towards the passenger P in the rear seat. Accordingly, compared to a conventional air conditioning system above a console or the like, the direction and volume of the airflow felt by an occupant are optimized.

[0020] Furthermore, the thermocouple 160 performs air conditioning through electrical operation and also dissipates heat. For the dissipation of heat by the thermocouple 160, the radiator in the trunk 20 is designed to radiate the heat from the thermocouple 160.

[0021] Specifically, as in Fig. As shown in Figure 2, the inlet duct 120 can be connected to the underside of the air conditioner 100, and the outlet duct 140 can be connected to the top of the air conditioner 100. Accordingly, conditioned air is directed towards the roof of the vehicle, and the supplied conditioned air is blown towards the head of the occupant P. To increase the effect of the air shower, the airflow volume of the blower 180 can be adjusted so that the occupant's hair is not blown away.

[0022] On the outlet side of the air conditioning unit 100, the outlet channel 140 is connected to one side and a discharge opening 132 is formed on the other side.

[0023] A flap 130 is provided between the outlet channel 140 and the discharge opening 132 such that the outlet channel 140 and the discharge opening 132 can be selectively opened and / or closed. Furthermore, the discharge opening 132 can be connected to the trunk 20.

[0024] Furthermore, the inlet duct 120 can be connected to seat ventilation ducts 32 in the rear seat 30 such that air from the passenger compartment is introduced into the air conditioning system 100 via the rear seat 30. The inlet duct 120 can be connected to the seat ventilation ducts 32 in the seat cushion and backrest of the rear seat 30. Specifically, the seat ventilation ducts 32 can be the same as or similar to those used in conventional ventilated seats. However, unlike conventional ventilated seats, where air is blown towards the seat surface, the seat ventilation ducts 32 draw air from the seat surface to perform air conditioning and then blow the conditioned air through the roof 10. With this configuration, both a ventilated seat and air conditioning via a roof are achieved.

[0025] With the entire configuration, when the thermocouple 160 is operated, the blower 180 can be operated, and the exhaust opening 132 can be closed by the flap 130, while the outlet channel 140 can be opened.

[0026] Furthermore, if the thermocouple 160 is not operating, the blower 180 can be operated, and the outlet duct 140 can be closed by the flap 130, while the exhaust opening 132 can be opened. That is, even if no air conditioning is carried out via a roof, the blower 180 is operated for seat ventilation, and the absorbed air is blown through the exhaust opening 132 into the trunk 20.

[0027] The cooler can have cooling fins 170, a cooling fan 174, and a cooling line 172 that connects the cooling fins 170 to the thermocouple 160. The cooling line 172 can be a heating tube connected to the thermocouple 160. The heating tube is a means of supplying heat at ultrasonic speed and is connected to the discharge surface of the thermocouple 160 to supply heat to the cooling fins 170 and the cooling fan 174, so that the heat is radiated outwards.

[0028] According to the air conditioning device configured in this way, an air conditioning system can be compact using a thermocouple, and conditioned air is blown from a roof above a rear seat, thus optimizing the efficiency of the air conditioning and making an occupant feel more comfortable.

[0029] Furthermore, the efficiency of the air conditioning is increased because air is drawn through the seat for conditioning and the conditioned air is expelled. Moreover, since both seat ventilation and air conditioning can be achieved with a single configuration, this is efficient and cost-effective.

[0030] To simplify the explanation and precise definition in the attached claims, the terms “top”, “bottom”, “front”, “back”, “inside”, “outside”, etc. are used to describe the features of the exemplary embodiment in relation to their positions in the figures.

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