Airflow distributor for a vehicle's air conditioning system, as well as a vehicle with an air conditioning system.

Abstract

Airflow distributor (10) for an air conditioning unit of a vehicle (40), comprising a housing (12) with an upstream air inlet (13) configured to be connected to an upstream channel (16) for directing air (11) supplied from the air conditioning unit to the air inlet (13), and two downstream air outlets (14, 15) configured to each be connected to a separate downstream channel (17, 18) for directing the air (11) supplied from the housing (12) to the respective downstream channels (17, 18) by means of an airflow divider (19), wherein the two air outlets (14, 15) each have a substantially polygonal outlet surface with a broad side (22) and a narrow side shorter than the broad side (22). (23) and the two air outlets (14, 15) are arranged adjacent to the respective narrow sides (23) of their outlet surfaces;furthermore a vehicle (40) with an air conditioning device and an airflow distributor (10) connected to it in an air-conducting manner.

Description

The invention relates to an airflow distributor for an air conditioning system of a vehicle. The invention further relates to a vehicle with an air conditioning system. In vehicle air conditioning systems, so-called flap boxes are used outside the air conditioning unit to divide the airflow supplied by the air conditioning unit between different areas of the vehicle. This division is usually achieved by an actuator, which, for example, operates a flap that in turn divides the airflow for the different areas. Due to space constraints, design options for the flap boxes are usually considerably limited. In particular, the contours and volume of the flap boxes cannot be arbitrarily altered or enlarged. Against this background, the invention aims to provide an airflow distributor for a vehicle's air conditioning system, as well as a vehicle with an air conditioning system, that optimally utilizes a given installation space, particularly with regard to efficient airflow. Furthermore, the distribution of the airflow should be achieved with minimal thermal losses of the air supplied by the air conditioning system and, if necessary, tempered (i.e., cooled or heated relative to the outside environment). This problem is solved by an airflow distributor having the features of claim 1 and by a vehicle having the features of claim 7. Further particularly advantageous embodiments of the invention are disclosed in the respective dependent claims. It should be noted that the features listed individually in the claims can be combined with one another in any technically meaningful way (even across category boundaries, for example between method and apparatus) and demonstrate further embodiments of the invention. The description further characterizes and specifies the invention, particularly in conjunction with the figures. It should also be noted that the conjunction “and / or” used herein, which stands between two features and links them together, is always to be interpreted in such a way that in a first embodiment of the object according to the invention only the first feature may be present, in a second embodiment only the second feature may be present, and in a third embodiment both the first and the second feature may be present. The use of the term "approximately" herein is intended to include a tolerance range that a person skilled in the art in this field would consider customary. In particular, the term "approximately" is to be understood as a tolerance range of the relative quantity of a maximum of + / -20%, preferably a maximum of + / -10%. The invention relates to an airflow distributor for a vehicle's air conditioning system, comprising a housing with an upstream air inlet and two downstream air outlets. The upstream air inlet is configured to be connected to an upstream channel for directing air supplied from the air conditioning system, which may be tempered (i.e., cooled or heated) relative to ambient air outside the housing of the airflow distributor. The two downstream air outlets are each configured to be connected to a separate downstream channel for directing the air supplied by the air conditioning system from the housing of the airflow distributor, controllably divided between the respective downstream channels by means of an airflow divider. According to the invention, the two downstream air outlets each have a substantially polygonal shape, e.g.,rectangular outlet surface with a broad side and a narrow side shorter than the broad side, wherein the two downstream air outlets are arranged adjacent to each other with the respective narrow sides of their outlet surfaces. The polygonal perimeter of the outlet surface is to be designed broadly in accordance with the invention and includes, for example, a perimeter line of the outlet surface that can be approximated by a polygon, even if the broad side and the narrow side of the corresponding air outlet flow smoothly or continuously into one another in terms of design, i.e., the transition section is curved and does not have a sharply defined edge as such. As mentioned previously, the narrow side should be shorter than the wide side of the respective outlet surface. For example, the narrow sides of the outlet surfaces of the corresponding downstream air outlets can be shorter than approximately 80% of the respective wide sides of the outlet surfaces, or shorter than approximately 65% ​​of the respective wide sides, or even shorter than approximately 50% of the respective wide sides. On the other hand, it is preferred that the narrow sides are not shorter than approximately 20% of the respective wide sides, thus avoiding a very shallow cross-section of the respective air outlets. Arranging the downstream air outlets along their narrow sides allows for a compact design of the airflow distributor, particularly when the available installation space is significantly limited compared to the wide side, especially with regard to the direction of the narrow side. Arranging the two downstream air outlets along their wide sides would, with limited housing extension in the narrow direction, result in very flat or narrow air outlets—that is, air outlets with very short narrow sides compared to the wide side—and corresponding downstream ducts with an equally flat, narrow cross-section, which significantly reduces the duct rigidity. Furthermore, very flat, wide ducts exhibit high heat loss from the air they convey, which may be tempered by the air conditioning system. The arrangement of the downstream air outlets according to the invention along the narrow sides of their outlet surfaces, however, allows for a larger narrow side compared to the wide side within a given installation space, so that the resulting cross-section increases the rigidity of the downstream ducts connected to the air outlets. Furthermore, the heat loss of the tempered air conveyed in the downstream ducts to the outside environment can be significantly reduced. The airflow divider can be controlled by, for example, an electrically operated actuator or controller, but is not necessarily limited to electric motor drive. In an advantageous embodiment, a partition extends along the respective narrow sides of the outlet surfaces of the corresponding downstream air outlets, starting from the outlet surface and into an interior space of the housing. The partition divides the interior of the housing between the airflow divider and the two air outlets into two separate compartments for directing the air split by the airflow divider to the respective air outlets. The partition enables efficient delivery of the airflow split by the airflow divider to the respective air outlets without the split airflows being able to remix downstream of the airflow divider within the housing. Another preferred embodiment provides that the airflow divider has a longitudinal axis about which it is rotatably mounted in the housing, and two pairs of wings extending perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, which are arranged and designed on the airflow divider in such a way as to divide the air conveyed from the air conditioning device into the housing via the upstream air inlet in a reciprocally proportional manner between the two air outlets, depending on a rotation angle of the airflow divider. In reciprocal proportionality, or inverse proportionality, between two quantities, one quantity is proportional to the inverse of the other; that is, the product of the two quantities is essentially constant. Accordingly, a doubling (tripling, halving, etc.) of one quantity is associated with a halving (thirding, doubling, etc.) of the other quantity. A single airflow divider enables a targeted and continuous division of the airflow entering through the upstream air inlet to the two downstream air outlets. Further advantageous embodiments provide that the two pairs of vanes are arranged in different longitudinal sections of the airflow divider along its longitudinal axis and are offset from each other by 90° with respect to the direction of rotation of the airflow divider. This design enables a reliable, reciprocally proportional division of the airflow using simple structural means. In another embodiment, the airflow divider has a circular disk extending perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, which is arranged between the two pairs of vanes in the direction of the airflow divider's longitudinal axis such that it is flush with the partition. This effectively prevents air stirred up by the other pair of vanes from flowing along the longitudinal axis of the airflow divider into the opposite compartment of the housing. Particularly advantageous embodiments provide that the two pairs of wings are each planar. In other words, one pair of wings extends essentially in a first plane, and the other pair of wings extends essentially in a second plane, the orientation of which in space may differ from that of the first plane, e.g., it may be rotated by 90°. The planar, smooth design of the respective pairs of wings reduces flow losses, especially when the pairs of wings are oriented essentially parallel to the main flow direction of the air conveyed through the housing. The invention further relates to a vehicle with an air conditioning device for conveying air, in particular air tempered by the air conditioning device, and an airflow distributor connected to the air conditioning device for dividing the air conveyed by the air conditioning device into two separate downstream airflow components, wherein the airflow distributor is designed according to one of the embodiments disclosed herein. It is understood that, with regard to vehicle-related definitions of terms as well as the effects and advantages of vehicle-specific features, full reference can be made to the disclosure of analogous definitions, effects, and advantages of the airflow distributor according to the invention, and vice versa. A repetition of explanations of analogous features, their effects, and advantages can therefore be omitted in favor of a more concise description, without such omissions being to be interpreted as a limitation of any of the disclosed subject matter of the invention. Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments of the invention, which are not to be understood as limiting and are explained in more detail below with reference to the drawing. In this drawing, Fig. 1 schematically shows a perspective view of an airflow distributor according to one embodiment of the invention; and Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of an area of ​​a vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention in which the airflow distributor from Fig. 1 is installed. In the different figures, parts that are equivalent in function are always provided with the same reference symbols, so that they are usually only described once. In the following description, reference is made simultaneously to Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, where Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an airflow distributor 10 according to an embodiment of the invention and Fig. 2 is a perspective view of an area of ​​a vehicle 40 according to an embodiment of the invention in which the airflow distributor 10 from Fig. 1 is installed. The top side of the airflow distributor 10 is shown transparently in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 to allow a view into the interior of the airflow distributor 10. The illustrated airflow distributor 10 serves a vehicle 40 air conditioning unit (not shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2) for conveying and dividing air 11 supplied by the air conditioning unit, which may be tempered by the air conditioning unit, i.e., cooled or heated compared to ambient air. As can be seen in Figures 1 and 2, the airflow distributor 10 has a housing 12 with an upstream air inlet 13 and two downstream air outlets 14 and 15 (hereinafter also referred to as the first and second downstream air outlets 14 and 15, respectively). The air inlet 13 is designed to be connected to an upstream duct 16 for directing the air 11 supplied from the air conditioning unit to the air inlet 13. The connected state of the duct 16 with the air inlet 13 is shown in Figure 2. The two downstream air outlets 14 and 15 are each designed to be connected to a separate downstream channel 17 or 18 (hereinafter also referred to as first and second downstream channels 17 and 18 respectively) for directing the air 11 conveyed by the air conditioning unit from the housing 12, which can be controlled by means of an airflow divider 19 to the respective downstream channels 17 and 18.A downstream first airflow component 20 can flow out of the first air outlet 14 and a downstream second airflow component 21 can flow out of the second air outlet 15. Figure 1 clearly shows that the two air outlets 14 and 15 each have a substantially polygonal (in this case, approximately trapezoidal) outlet surface with a broad side 22 and a narrow side 23 that is shorter than the broad side 22. The respective narrow sides 23 of the corresponding outlet surfaces of the first and second air outlets 14 and 15 can preferably have between approximately 20% and approximately 80% of the extent of the respective broad sides 22. The two air outlets 14 and 15 are arranged adjacent to each other with respect to the respective narrow sides 23 of their outlet surfaces. In the illustrated examples, the orientation of the narrow sides 23 essentially corresponds to a vertical direction H of the airflow distributor 10 or the vehicle 40. The broad sides 22 are essentially oriented in a horizontal direction B. The arrangement of the two air outlets 14 and 15 according to the invention reduces the overall height requirement of the airflow distributor 10, while simultaneously enabling outlet or cross-sectional areas of the downstream air outlets 14 and 15 that provide the respective connected downstream ducts 17 and 18 with greater rigidity. This is because, in the arrangement according to the invention, the outlet or cross-sectional areas along their narrow sides 23 can exhibit a higher area moment of inertia, unlike an arrangement along the common broad sides 22, while maintaining the same overall height requirement of the airflow distributor 10.The respective downstream channels 17 and 18 can also be designed with a cross-section that increases dimensional stability. The airflow divider 10 has a low requirement in the vertical direction H. Furthermore, thermal losses of the airflow components 20 and 21 directed through channels 17 and 18 can be reduced due to the now achievable channel cross-sections. In Fig. 1 it can also be clearly seen that along the respective narrow sides 23 of the outlet surfaces, a partition 24 extends from the outlet surfaces into an interior of the housing 12, which divides the interior of the housing 12 between the airflow divider 19 and the two air outlets 14 and 15 into two separate sub-spaces 25 and 26 for the respective direction of the air divided by the airflow divider 19 to the corresponding air outlets 14 and 15. Furthermore, the airflow divider 19 has a longitudinal axis 27 about which it is rotatably mounted in the housing 12, and two pairs of vanes 28 and 29 extending perpendicular to the longitudinal axis L. The first and second pairs of vanes 28 and 29, respectively, are arranged and designed on the airflow divider 19 such that they divide the air 11 conveyed from the air conditioning unit into the housing 12 via the air inlet 13 inversely proportionally to the two air outlets 14 and 15, depending on a rotation angle φ of the airflow divider 19. Fig. 1 shows the situation in which the first air outlet 14 is completely closed and the second air outlet 15 is maximally open. The rotation of the airflow divider 19 can be effected by an actuator 30, which can be, for example, an electrically driven actuator 30, but is not necessarily limited to this. In the present case, the two pairs of wings 28 and 29 are arranged in different longitudinal sections of the airflow divider 19 in the direction of the longitudinal axis 27 and are offset from each other by approximately 90° with respect to a direction of rotation of the airflow divider 19. Furthermore, in the present example, the airflow divider 19 has a circular disk 31 extending perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 27, which is arranged in the direction of the longitudinal axis 27 of the airflow divider 19 between the two pairs of wings 28 and 29 such that it is flush with the partition 24. Fig. 1 also shows that the two pairs of wings 28 and 29 are each essentially flat. Figure 2 shows that in vehicle 40, the air 11 supplied by the air conditioning unit (not shown) is divided into two downstream airflow components 20 and 21 by means of the airflow distributor 10. Figure 2 shows that the first airflow component 20 is directed via the channel 17 to an air outlet 32, through which the air flows into a vehicle interior. The second airflow component 21 is directed via the second channel 18 to another area of ​​the vehicle and flows out there through a further air outlet (not shown). REFERENCE MARK LIST: 10 Airflow distributor 11 Air from an air conditioning unit 12 Housing 13 Upstream air inlet 14 Downstream first air outlet 15 Downstream second air outlet 16 Upstream duct 17 Downstream first duct 18 Downstream second duct 19 Airflow divider 20 Downstream first airflow portion 21 Downstream second airflow portion 22 Broadside 23 Narrowside 24 Partition 25 First compartment 26 Second compartment 27 Longitudinal axis 28 First pair of blades 29 Second pair of blades 30 Actuator 31 Circular disk 32 Air outlet 40 Vehicle B Latitude direction H Altitude direction φ Angle of rotation

Claims

Airflow distributor (10) for an air conditioning unit of a vehicle (40), comprising a housing (12) with an upstream air inlet (13) configured to be connected to an upstream channel (16) for directing air (11) supplied from the air conditioning unit to the air inlet (13), and two downstream air outlets (14, 15) configured to each be connected to a separate downstream channel (17, 18) for directing the air (11) supplied from the housing (12) to the respective downstream channels (17, 18) by means of an airflow divider (19), wherein the two air outlets (14, 15) each have a substantially polygonal outlet surface with a broad side (22) and a narrow side shorter than the broad side (22). (23) and the two air outlets (14, 15) are arranged adjacent to each other with the respective narrow sides (23) of their outlet surfaces. Airflow distributor according to claim 1, in which a partition (24) extends along the respective narrow sides (23) of the outlet surfaces from the outlet surfaces into an interior of the housing (12), which divides the interior of the housing (12) between the airflow divider (19) and the two air outlets (14, 15) into two separate sub-spaces (25, 26) for the respective direction of the air divided by the airflow divider (19) to the corresponding air outlets (14, 15). Airflow distributor according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the airflow distributor (19) has a longitudinal axis (27) about which it is rotatably mounted in the housing (12), and two pairs of vanes (28, 29) extending perpendicular to the longitudinal axis (27), which are arranged and designed on the airflow distributor (19) in such a way as to divide the air (11) conveyed from the air conditioning device via the air inlet (13) into the housing (12) in a reciprocally proportional manner to the two air outlets (14, 15) depending on a rotation angle (φ) of the airflow distributor (19). Airflow distributor according to claim 3, wherein the two pairs of vanes (28, 29) are arranged in different longitudinal sections of the airflow distributor (19) in the direction of the longitudinal axis (27) of the airflow distributor (19) and are arranged offset from each other by 90° with respect to a direction of rotation of the airflow distributor (19). Airflow distributor according to claim 2 and claim 3 or 4, wherein the airflow distributor (19) has a circular disk (31) extending perpendicular to the longitudinal axis (27) which is arranged in the direction of the longitudinal axis (27) of the airflow distributor (19) between the two pairs of wings (28, 29) such that it is flush with the partition (24). Airflow distributor according to one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the two pairs of wings (28, 29) are each planar. Vehicle (40) with an air conditioning device for conveying air (11) and an airflow distributor (10) connected to the air conditioning device for dividing the air (11) conveyed by the air conditioning device into two downstream separate airflow components (20, 21), wherein the airflow distributor (10) is designed according to one of the preceding claims.

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