Vehicle HVAC Vent Layout for Front-Seat Space and Slim Packaging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional vehicular air conditioning systems face challenges in securing space in the front seat area due to the protrusion of rear vents and ducts, which interferes with the installation of the instrument panel and fails to meet the demands for slimming and miniaturization in vehicles.
Innovation Solution
The air conditioning system is redesigned with an internal flow path oriented in an up-down direction, featuring vertically installed cooling and heating heat exchangers, and rear vents and ducts arranged to face the floor area opposite to the front seat, minimizing the size of the air conditioning case and avoiding interference with the front seat area.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the rear vents are formed to face from the air conditioning case toward the rear seat side, then air can be discharged to the rear seat area, but the rear vents protrude toward the front seat area making it difficult to secure space in the front seat area
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the orientation of the rear vents from facing the rear seat side to facing the engine room side (opposite direction). This dimensional reversal allows the vents to discharge air toward the rear seats through the engine room space, eliminating protrusion into the front seat area and resolving the spatial conflict.
2Area of stationary object
If the rear vents are bent and extended toward the engine room side to minimize protrusion, then the front seat area space is improved, but the size of the air conditioning case has to be increased
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of bending and extending the rear vents toward the engine room side (which would increase AC case size), the patent inverts the approach by directly forming the rear vents to face the engine room side from the original position. This eliminates the need for bending extensions and avoids increasing the AC case volume while still achieving the goal of minimizing front seat area protrusion.
3Ease of manufacture
If the instrument panel is made large to avoid interference with the rear vents and rear ducts, then the installation work is facilitated, but the front seat area becomes narrower
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the rear vents and rear ducts from the conventional configuration that interferes with instrument panel installation. By repositioning the rear vents to face the engine room side and routing the rear ducts accordingly, the interference with instrument panel installation is eliminated, allowing for normal-sized instrument panels without sacrificing front seat area space.
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 configuration allows for increased space in the front seat area, facilitating easier installation of the instrument panel and addressing the need for slimming and miniaturization, while maintaining effective air distribution to the rear seats.
Implementation Method 1
a cooling heat exchanger and a heating heat exchanger which are sequentially installed from the lower side to the upper side in the direction of gravity so as to correspond to the air flow path extending from the lower side to the upper side in the direction of gravity
Implementation Method 2
a cooling heat exchanger and a heating heat exchanger which are sequentially installed from the lower side to the upper side in the direction of gravity
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicular air conditioning system includes an air conditioning case with internal flow path introducing air discharged from a blower and feeding the air into a passenger room, a cooling and heating heat exchangers cooling and heating the air flowing along the internal flow path, and a plurality of vents discharging cold and hot air passed through the cooling and heating heat exchanger into the passenger room. The internal flow path is formed in an up-down direction for air flow path to extend in the direction of gravity. The cooling and heating heat exchangers are installed sequentially from the lower to upper side in the direction of gravity to correspond to the air flow path. The vents discharge the cold and the hot air passed through the cooling and heating heat exchanger into the passenger room while distributing cold and hot air in a front-rear direction of a vehicle.