Patent Application
20200307349
The present disclosure relates to a coaxial door assembly for a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system.
This section provides background information related to the present disclosure, which is not necessarily prior art.
Vehicle heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems typically include a case defining a plurality of airflow outlets, such as defrost outlets, demist outlets, face outlets, and foot outlets, for example. Airflow through these outlets is controlled using a plurality of airflow control doors that are actuated by a plurality of linkages. With previous HVAC systems, each one of the plurality of doors is associated with a different one of the outlets such that airflow through each outlet is controlled by a different door. Each one of the plurality of doors must be spaced apart enough to allow for independent rotation of the doors and to accommodate the associated linkages. Existing HVAC cases must therefore be quite large to accommodate the plurality of spaced apart doors and associated door linkages, which takes up valuable space within the vehicle.
This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features.
The present disclosure includes a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) case for a vehicle. The HVAC case has a defrost outlet and a face outlet. A coaxial door assembly is configured to control airflow through both the defrost outlet and the face outlet. The coaxial door assembly includes an outer door and an inner door rotatable about a common axis of rotation.
The present disclosure also includes a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) case for a vehicle. The HVAC case has a defrost outlet, a face outlet, a case flange, and a coaxial door assembly. The case flange extends inward from a housing of the HVAC case between the defrost outlet and the face outlet. The coaxial door assembly is configured to control airflow through both the defrost outlet and the face outlet. The coaxial door assembly has an outer door including a first outer seal, a second outer seal, and an inner flange. The coaxial door assembly also has an inner door including a first inner seal and a second inner seal. The inner flange of the outer door extends towards the inner door. The outer door and the inner are rotatable about a common axis of rotation to a closed position, a defrost position, and a face position.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.
Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The HVAC case 10 includes a housing 12. Within the housing 12 is a heater core 14 (see
The first defrost outlet 20 and the second defrost outlet 24 direct heated airflow to a windshield of the vehicle in order to defrost the windshield. The first demist outlet 22 and the second demist outlet 26 direct heated airflow to side windows of the vehicle to demist the side windows. The first and second defrost outlets 20, 24 and the first and second demist outlets 22, 26 may alternatively be configured to direct heated airflow to any other suitable surface and/or area as well.
The housing 12 further defines a first face outlet 30 and a second face outlet 32. The first and second face outlets 30, 32 direct airflow to an upper portion of the vehicle passenger cabin, such as towards the faces of occupants of the passenger cabin. Airflow exiting the first and second face outlets 30, 32 may flow directly to the passenger cabin or through any suitable tubes or other conduits leading to the passenger cabin.
The housing 12 also defines a first foot outlet 40 and a second foot outlet 42. The first and second foot outlets 40, 42 direct airflow to a lower portion of the passenger cabin, such as towards the feet of occupants of the passenger cabin. The first and second foot outlets 40, 42 are connected to any suitable airflow conduits, such as hoses, which direct the airflow to the passenger cabin. The housing 12 may further define a rear outlet through which airflow passes to a rear of the vehicle (not shown).
With continued reference to
The coaxial door assembly 50 may be positioned to control airflow through the defrost outlets 20, 24, the demist outlets 22, 26, and the face outlets 30, 32. The coaxial door assembly 50 may also be positioned to control airflow through any other airflow outlets of the HVAC case 10, or any other suitable HVAC case. For example, the coaxial door assembly 50 may be positioned to control airflow through the face outlets 30, 32 and the first and second foot outlets 40, 42 of the HVAC case 10.
The coaxial door assembly 50 includes an outer door 52 and an inner door 54, which are rotatable about the common axis of rotation A. The outer door 52 is generally larger than the inner door 54, and thus the inner door 54 is rotatable into, or beneath, the outer door 52, as described herein and illustrated in
Extending from an inner surface of the outer door 52 generally opposite to the second seal 62 is an inner flange 70. Between the first face outlet 30 and both the first defrost outlet 20 and the first demist outlet 22 is a case flange 80. Another similar case flange is between the second face outlet 32 and both the second defrost outlet 24 and the second demist outlet 26.
Operation of the coaxial door assembly 50 to control airflow will now be described in detail. The coaxial door assembly 50 is rotatable by any suitable servo or other suitable device to rotate the outer door 52 and the inner door 54 about the common axis of rotation A to the positions of
With particular reference to
With reference to
In addition to the closed, defrost, and face positions described above, the outer door 52 and the inner 54 may be arranged at any other suitable positions, such as any suitable intermediate positions. For example, the outer door 52 may be arranged partially open to allow a “bleed” to the face outlet 30, such as in a bi-level mode.
The present disclosure thus advantageously provides for one or more coaxial door assemblies 50/50′ including the outer door 52 and the inner door 54 rotatable about the common axis of rotation A to control airflow through defrost outlets 20, 24, demist outlets 22, 26, and face outlets 30, 32. The present disclosure provides for a compact, coaxial door assembly 50 that requires less space within the HVAC case 10 as compared to existing airflow control door assemblies. As a result, the HVAC case 10 can be made smaller than existing HVAC cases, which advantageously takes up less space within the vehicle. Reducing the number of airflow control doors also reduces the number of door linkages required, which advantageously reduces cost and complexity.
The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or features of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described.
Example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough, and will fully convey the scope to those who are skilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth such as examples of specific components, devices, and methods, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need not be employed, that example embodiments may be embodied in many different forms and that neither should be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure. In some example embodiments, well-known processes, well-known device structures, and well-known technologies are not described in detail.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “including,” and “having,” are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in the particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as an order of performance. It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed.
When an element or layer is referred to as being “on,” “engaged to,” “connected to,” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it may be directly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly engaged to,” “directly connected to,” or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there may be no intervening elements or layers present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” etc.). As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
Although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Terms such as “first,” “second,” and other numerical terms when used herein do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the example embodiments.
Spatially relative terms, such as “inner,” “outer,” “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “above,” “upper,” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. Spatially relative terms may be intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. Thus, the example term “below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/824,513 filed on Mar. 27, 2019, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62824513 | Mar 2019 | US |
