Air conditioning apparatus

Abstract

Air flow from an internal air/external air switching unit 10 passes through a by-pass passage 63 and flows into a heater core 41. Warm air is blown out from the heater core 41 and flows into a deodorizing filter 60. In the deodorizing filter 60, odor components are separated from a charcoal filter by the heat of the warm air, the odor components then flowing in the order of a discharging passage 66→an external air inlet port 12 of a vent switching unit 50→an external air intake port, and being discharged out of the vehicle room. Thus, by simply providing the by-pass passage 63, the discharging passage 66, and the doors 61, 68, the same heater unit 41 and blower unit 20 as in prior art can be used to separate odor components from the deodorizing filter.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the construction of a vehicle air conditioning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view showing the vehicle air conditioning apparatus of FIG. 1 as seen in the direction of the arrow A in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view showing the electrical construction of the vehicle air conditioning apparatus of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view useful for explaining the operation of the vehicle air conditioning apparatus of the above embodiment.

Claims

1. A vehicle air conditioning apparatus comprising: an air conditioner casing;a blower for generating air flow in said air conditioner casing;vents formed on said casing for venting the air flow from said blower into a vehicle room;a heat exchanger for cooling provided in said casing for cooling the air flow from said blower;a heat exchanger for heating provided in said casing for heating the air flow from said blower;a physical adsorption type filter provided at a site in said casing between said heat exchanger for cooling and said heat exchanger for heating for collecting odor components contained in the air flow from said blower;vent opening/closing means for opening/closing said vents, which, when the air flow is vented from said vents, lets the air flow from said blower through said heat exchanger for cooling, said physical adsorption type filter, said heat exchanger for heating, and said vents in this order:a by-pass passage which guides the air flow from said blower so as to by-pass said heat exchanger for cooling, said physical adsorption type filter, and said heat exchanger for heating, to a site on the upstream side of said vents;by-pass passage opening/closing means for opening/closing said by-pass passage; anda communicating hole formed on said casing separately from said vents in communication with the outside of the vehicle room;characterized in that, in purging operation mode for purging of odor components adsorbed by said physical adsorption type filter, said vents are closed by said vents opening/closing means and said by-pass passage is opened by said by-pass passage opening/closing means so as to let flow air flow from said blower through said by-pass passage, said heat exchanger for heating, said physical adsorption type filter, and said communicating hole in this order, whereby the odor components adsorbed by said physical adsorption type filter are purged by the heat of the warm air heated by said heat exchanger for heating, and the odor components are discharged from said communicating hole out of the vehicle room.

2. A vehicle air conditioning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said by-pass passage opening/closing means, in a first state, close a first air passage between said blower and said heat exchanger for cooling, and open said by-pass passage, and in a second state, open the first air passage between said blower and said heat exchanger for cooling, and close said by-pass passage.

3. A vehicle air conditioning apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an internal air inlet port for introducing internal air into said air conditioner casing, an external air inlet port for introducing external air into said air conditioner casing, and a switching door for closing one and opening the other of said internal air inlet port and external air inlet port;a discharging passage for communicating said communicating hole with said external air intake port; anda discharging door for opening/closing said discharging passage;wherein, when air flow is vented from said vents, with said discharging passage closed by said discharging door, said blower introduces air from one of said internal air inlet port and said external air inlet port in accordance with opening/closing of said switching door; andwherein, in said purging operation mode, with said discharging passage closed by said discharging door, said odor components purged from said physical adsorption type filter are discharged out of the vehicle room via said discharging passage and said external air intake port.

4. A vehicle air conditioning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a drain hole is provided on said air conditioner casing for draining the condensed water of said heat exchanger for cooling; and wherein said drain hole is adapted to act, in addition to draining the condensed water, as said communicating hole to discharge said odor components together with the warm air out of the vehicle room.

5. A vehicle air conditioning apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a cool air by-pass passage for guiding air flow from said blower so as to by-pass said heat exchanger for heating; andan air mixing door for adjusting the amount of heat imparted to the air flow from said blower from said heat exchanger for heating by changing the ratio of the amount of air inflow into said cool air by-pass passage and the amount of air inflow into said heat exchanger for heating;wherein, in said purging operation mode, with said cool air by-pass passage closed by said air mixing door, all of the air flow from said blower flows into said heat exchanger for heating.

6. A vehicle air conditioning apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said heat exchanger for heating heats the air flow from said blower based on the cooling water of the driving engine, and wherein the apparatus further comprises a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the cooling water of said driving engine, the apparatus being adapted to implement said purging operation mode when the temperature detected by said temperature sensor is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature, and not to implement said purging operation mode when the temperature detected by said temperature sensor is lower than the predetermined temperature.