Vehicle Air Conditioner Separate Cold and Warm Air Passageways
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional rear air conditioners for vehicles with wide interior spaces, such as deluxe cars and RVs, face issues with insufficient cooling or heating for rear seats due to air discharge from the front vent duct, leading to poor temperature mixability, noise, and reduced air volume, caused by resistance in the air passageway structure.
Innovation Solution
The air conditioner design includes a case with a blower unit, an evaporator, and a heater core arranged in an airflow direction, featuring separate air passageways for cold and warm air, with mode doors that adjust the flow to minimize resistance and enhance air volume by directing air through the entire face of the evaporator in vent mode and directly transferring air through the heater core to the floor outlet in heating mode.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If a temp door is disposed in the air passageway to adjust temperature mixing, then temperature mixability is improved, but air flow resistance increases and air volume is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The air passageway is segmented into separate first and second passageways for cold air and warm air respectively, eliminating the need for a mixing door while maintaining temperature control through dedicated flow paths
Solution Approach 2:
The temperature mixing function is extracted from the main air passageway by providing separate dedicated passageways for cold and warm air flows, removing the problematic temp door component entirely
2Temperature
If a temp door is disposed in the air passageway to adjust temperature mixing, then temperature mixability is improved, but noise is generated due to door vibration
Solution Approach 1:
The temp door component is completely removed from the system by redesigning the air passageway structure to provide separate dedicated paths for cold and warm air, eliminating the source of vibration and noise
3Loss of energy
If air discharge passageways are closed in cooling or heating mode, then energy efficiency is improved, but temperature mixability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The air discharge system is segmented into separate first and second discharge passageways that can operate independently, allowing pure cooling or heating modes to maintain energy efficiency while the mixing mode can utilize both passageways for temperature blending
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design improves airflow resistance, reduces air pressure loss, and enhances air volume by ensuring that cold air from the evaporator is directly transferred to the vent outlet and warm air from the heater core is directly transferred to the floor outlet, resulting in improved cooling and heating efficiency and reduced noise.
Implementation Method 1
an evaporator and a heater core disposed in the air passageway of the case in an air flow direction in order
Implementation Method 2
an evaporator and a heater core disposed in the air passageway of the case in an air flow direction in order
Implementation Method 3
a blower unit for blowing air to the air inlet
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to an air conditioner for a vehicle, which can remarkably improve resistance against an air flow in an air passageway, thereby enhancing efficiency. The air conditioner for a vehicle includes: a case having an air inlet, an air outlet, and an air passageway formed therein; a blower unit for blowing air to the air inlet; and a cooling means and a heating means disposed in the air passageway of the case in an air flow direction in order, wherein the air outlet of the case includes a floor outlet and vent outlets, the floor outlet and the vent outlets are arranged below the heating means in a height direction, and the floor outlet is arranged within a range of the width of the heating means.