Title of Invention

"AIR CONDITIONER FOR VEHICLE"

Abstract

An air conditioner for vehicle wherein it comprises: a sub-assembly with a compressor (15), a condenser (17), a receiver dryer (18) and conduits connecting those which are disposed on a front side of an engine (10), and a receiver outlet hose (24) to be connected to the outlet of the receiver dryer (18); an expansion valve (19) and an evaporator (20), the expansion valve (19) and the evaporator (20) being mounted on a dash panel (8) characterized in that an inlet (19a) of the expansion valve (19) and an outlet (20a) of the evaporator (20) in an engine room (9); a suction hose (25) which is disposed along the vehicle body and connected to the inlet of the compressor (15).

Full Text

!• Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for installing an air conditioner for vehicle. 2. Description of the Related Art An air conditioner for vehicles which is installed in an automobile, which comprises, in general, a compressor which is driven by an engine and compresses a coolant gas, a condenser which is urged to cool the gaseous coolant of high temperature and pressure due to compressor to be liquefied, a receiver dryer which deposits the liquefied coolant temporarily and removes'moisture contained in the coolant, an expansion valve to inject the high-heated and pressurized coolant in liquefaction supplied from the receiver dryer through a small bore to be expanded abruptly and to make low-heated and pressurized coolant in mist, an evaporator -which makes the misty coolant from the expansion valve passed into a tube, and obtained a cool air by taking a latent heat from the surrounding air through fins between tubes at the time of evaporation and conduits which connect between those appliances. Conventionally, in case where such an air conditioner for vehicles is installed in an automobile, for instance, in an engine assembly line, to the engine side a compressor or the like is mounted, in a total assembly line for vehicle, a condenser, a receiver dryer, an expansion valve and the like are mounted to the body side, and after the engine is mounted on the body, the pipes, hoses and the like which connect between those parts. Therefore, the assembling processes in the total assembly line has been increased, further, in the narrow space within an engine room after the engine is installed in the engine body, pipes, hoses and the like to connect each part have to be mounted, which causes the workability to become worse. The present invention is made in the light of the above problem and the purpose thereof is to provide an air conditioner for vehicles which is improved in the workability for assembling to the vehicles. Summary of the Invention According to a first aspect of the invention, an air conditioner is formed with a sub-assembly which is formed by mounting a compressor, a condenser, a receiver dryer and conduits to connect those on an engine, and by mounting an expansion valve and evaporator on the vehicle body side and disposing an inlet of the expansion valve and an outlet of the evaporator within an engine room, and characterized in that installing of the sub-assembly on the vehicle body is carried out in such_ajj]anner...as the OH,jtlet_of the receiver dryer and the outlet of the compressor are connected to the jLnle.t, of the expansion valve an4 the outlet of the evaporator respectively. By being made as the above, the assembling of the sub-assembly to the vehicle body is carried out by connecting the outlet of the receiver dryer at the engine side and the inlet of the compressor to the inlet of the expansion valve at the engine side and to the outlet of the evaporator respectively Accordingly, there is provided an air conditioner for vehicle wherein it comprises: a sub-assembly with a compressor (15), a condenser (17), a receiver dryer (18) and conduits connecting those which are disposed on a front side of an engine (10), and a receiver outlet hose (24) to be connected to the outlet of the receiver dryer (18); an expansion valve (19) and an evaporator (20), the expansion valve (19) and the evaporator (20) being mounted on a dash panel (8) characterized in that an inlet (19a) of the expansion valve (19) and an outlet (20a) of the evaporator (20) in an engine room (9); a suction hose (25) which is disposed along the vehicle body and connected to the inlet of the compressor (15). Accordingly to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the first aspect, to the outlet of the receiver dryer of the sub-assembly one end of the receiver outlet hose is connected, to the outlet of the evaporator of the vehicle body side an end of a suction hose is connected, and the sub-assembly is mounted to the vehicle body in such a manner as the other end portion of the suction outlet hose is adapted to be connected to the outlet of the expansion valve and the other end portion of the suction hose is adapted to be connected to the inlet of the compressor. By forming as mentioned above, the sub-assembly is assembled to the vehicle body by connecting the other end of the receiver hose to the outlet of the expansion valve and connecting the other end of the suction hose to the inlet of the compressor. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above second aspect, it is characterized in that the receiver outlet hose and the suction hose have flexibility. By being thus constituted, the receiver outlet hose and the suction hose may be easily connected. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to either one of the above first to third aspects, it is characterized in that the condenser and the receiver are mounted on a radiator of the engine. ^/ Thereby, the condenser and the receiver are sub-assembled to the engine with the radiator.,vj/uR/V'^A/^ Brief Explanation of thet/ojrawings ' Fig. 1 is a plan view of an engine room of the vehicle installed with an air conditioner for vehicle of one embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a side view of the engine room shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a discharge hose of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the receiver outlet hose of the apparatus of Fig. 1. Fig- 5 is a perspective view of a suction hose of the apparatus of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a broken perspective view showing the appliance which is sub-assembled to the engine side of the apparatus of Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the inside of the engine room showing a connecting relation between the parts to be assembled of the engine side and the parts to be assembled of the vehicle body side at the time of mounting the engine to the vehicle body. Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiment Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be explained in detail based on the attached drawing. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, in an engine room 9 which is formed by being surrounded with side frames 1 and 2 and side apron panels 3 and 4, which are disposed at both sides left and right of a front portion of the vehicle body, a lower cloth member 5 and an upper cloth member 6 disposed upper and lower respectively at a front portion of the vehicle body upper and lower, and a dash panel 8 as a partition between a vehicle chamber 7 and the engine room, a power unit 12 formed by being connected the engine 10 and a trans axle 11 (transmission) is installed. In Fig. 1, signs 13 and 14 are strut towers. On the front portion of a side frame side 2 of the engine 10, the compressor 15 is mounted. On an area of the side frame 1 between the lower cloth member 5 and the upper cloth member 6, a radiator 16 is mounted, on the front of which the condenser 17 is mounted. On the side portion of the side frame 1 side of the radiator 16, a receiver dryer 18 is mounted. On the side of the side frame 1 of a dash panel 8 and on the vehicle chamber 7 side, a cooling unit 21 with the expansion valve 19 and the evaporator 20 is mounted, and the inlet 19a of the expansion valve 19 and the outlet 20a of the evaporator 20 are projected in the engine room 9. And, the outlet of the compressor 15 is connected to an inlet of the condenser 17 through a discharge hose 22 (conduit). The outlet of the condenser 17 is connected to an inlet of the receiver dryer 18 through by a pipe 23 (conduit) formed in a unit with the condenser 17. The outlet of the receiver dryer 18 is connected to the inlet 19a of the expansion valve a through the receiver outlet hose 24. The outlet 20a of the evaporator 20 connected to the expansion valve 19 is connected to an inlet of the compressor 15 through a suction hose 25. Thus, a freezing cycle is constituted by the conduits connected thereamong. A discharge hose 22, as shown in Fig. 3, is formed in such a manner as, to both ends of a molded hose 26 having a flexibility, suitably bent pipes 27, 28 having joint portions 27a, 28a are connected to the compressor 15 side and the condenser 17 side respectively and the hose 22 is extended from the outlet of the compressor 15 mounted to the engine 10 to the inlet of the condenser 17 mounted on the vehicle body. In Fig. 3, the sign 29 shows a protector. A receiver outlet hose 24, as shown in Fig. 4, is formed in such a manner as, to both ends of a molded hose 30 having a flexibility, suitably bent pipes 31, 32 having joint portions 31a, 32a are connected to the receiver dryer 18 side and the expansion valve 19 side respectively and the hose 24 is extended from the outlet of the receiver dryer 18 mounted to the radiator 16 to the inlet 19a of the expansion valve 19 mounted on the dash panel 8. With the joint portion 32a of the expansion valve 19 side, a block portion 32b for fixing a joint portion of the evaporator 20 side of a suction hose 25 mentioned later is formed in a unitary manner. In Fig. 4, sign 30a designates a protector, 33 designates a high voltage charging valve, 34 designates a site glass and 34A designates a dual pressure switch. The suction hose 25 is constituted in such a manner as, as shown in Fig. 5, to both ends of the molded hose 35 having flexibility, suitably bent pipes 36, 37 having joint portions 36a and 37a to be connected to the evaporator 20 side and to the compressor 15 side respectively. The pipe 36 is extended approximately horizontal passing over the strut tower 14 from the outlet side portion of the evaporator 20 disposed in parallel with the inlet 19a of the expansion valve 19 mounted on the dash panel 8, and is adapted to be connected to the strut tower 14 by a clamp 38. The suction hose 25 is adapted to be formed in a configuration as to be further extended to the inlet of the compressor 15 mounted on the engine 10. In Fig. 5, sign 39 represents, a low pressure charging valve and 40 designates a protector. Next, a sub-assembly process of every apparatus of the engine side is explained based on Fig. 6. For reference, in Fig. 6, an engine body is not shown. As shown in Fig. 6, to the front of the radiator 16 connected to the engine (r\ot sW the upper hose (not shown) and the lower hose (not shown), the condenser 17 is mounted through a bolt 42 through a bush 41. On the side of the radiator 16, the receiver dryer 18 is mounted with a bolt 43 and the pipe 23 of the condenser 17 is connected .to the inlet of the receiver dryer 18 with a bolt 44. The joint portion 27a of the discharger hose 22 is connected to the outlet of the compressor 15 mounted on the engine 10, and the joint portion 28a is connected to the inlet of the condenser 17. Further, to the outlet iof the receiver dryer 18 a Joint portion 31a of one end of the receiver outlet hose 24 is connected with a bolt 47. Thus, to the engine 10 which is formed as a power unit 12 being connected to the trans axle 11, the compressor 15, the radiator 16, the condenser 17, the receiver dryer 18, the discharge hose 22 and the receiver outlet hole 24 are assembled to obtain the sub-assembly. Then, the radiator 16 and the receiver outlet hose 24 are recommended to be supported by suitable jigs and the like together with the engine 10 (power unit 12) considering the convenience during carrying or installing them' to the vehicle body. Next, about the assembling processes of each of the parts of the vehicle body side an explanation will be carried out referring to Fig. 7 As soon in Fig. 7, on the chamber 7 side of the dash panel 8, the cooling unit (not shown) provided with the expansion valve (not shown) and evaporator (not shown) is mounted, and the inlet 19a of the expansion valve (not shown) and the outlet 20a of the evaporator (not shown) are made to project in the engine room 9. The joint portion 36a of the suction hose 25 is inserted in the outlet 20a of the evaporator 20 and a clamp 38 is mounted on the strut tower 14 with a nut 48 (stud bolt) to fix the hose 25 to the vehicle side. In Fig. 7, sign 49 designates a master cylinder and 50 designate a wiper motor. About the installing processes of the engine 10 (power unit 12) to the vehicle body, mainly referring to Fig. 7, it is explained. For reference, in Fig. 7, the engine body (itself) is not indicated. By displacing the power unit 12 into the engine room 9 with a suitable method (normally from bottom) and the position is decided at the ones shown in Figs, 1 and 2 the power unit 12 is installed to the vehicle body through such as engine mount, sub-frame ad the like, and the radiator 16 which is sub-assembled with the condenser 17 and the receiver dryer 18 is installed between a lower member 5 and an upper member 6. And, the joint portion 32a of the other end portion of the receiver outlet hose 24 sub-assembled on the engine 10 side is connected to the inlet I9a of the expansion valve 19, and by the block portion 32b, the joint portion 36a of the suction hose 25 inserted into the outlet 20a of the evaporator 20 is fixed. Further, the joint portion 37a of the other end portion of the suction hose 25 mounted on the vehicle body side is connected to the inlet of the compressor 15 sub-assembled to the engine 10 side with a bolt 52. The hoses, pipes and the like may be, suitably, clamped to the vehicle body and the power unit 12. Thus, the engine 10 (power unit 12) is installed to the vehicle body, and the compressor 15, the condenser 17, the receiver dryer 18, the expansion valve 19 and the evaporator 20 are connected through the discharge hose 22, the pipe 23, the receiver outlet hose 24 and the suction hose 25 to form the freezing cycle. Then, the compressor 15, the condenser 17, the receiver dryer 18, the discharge hose 22 and the receiver outlet hose 24 are adapted to sub-assemble on the engine 10, so that, since it is not necessary to assemble them in a narrow engine room 9, the workability of assembling various apparatuses are increased. On the other hand, since the suction hose 25 is mounted in the engine room 9 before installing the engine, a wide space for mounting process may be secured, thereby the workability in assembling may be also increased. Thereby, when installing the engine 10 (power unit 12) on the vehicle body, since the air conditioner can be assembled on the vehicle only by connecting the receiver outlet hose 24 and the inlet of the compressor 15 of the engine 10 side, and connecting two portions of inlet portion 19a of the expansion valve 19 and the suction hose 25 of the vehicle body side, the workability in assembling can be increased and the total assembling processes for vehicle can be reduced. Further, since the discharger hose 22, the receiver outlet hose 24 and the suction hose 25 are formed of, respectively, the hoses 26, 30 and 36 having the flexibility, the connection work is easily carried out and further the vibration and the noise at the time of driving can be absorbed. As described above, according to the first aspect of the air conditioner for vehicle of the present invention, when installing the sub-assembly which is formed by assembling the compressor, the condenser, the receiver dryer and the conduits to connect these on the vehicle body, since it can be assembled on the vehicle body by connecting the outlet of receiver dryer and the inlet of the compressor of the engine side to the inlet of the expansion valve and the outlet of the evaporator respectively, it becomes unnecessary to work for piping connection in a narrow engine room to increase the workability in assembling. According to the second aspect of the air conditioner for vehicle of the present invention, when installing the sub-assembly on the vehicle body, by connecting the other end of the receiver outlet hose to the outlet of the expansion valve and connecting the other end of the suction hose to the inlet of the compressor, the sub-assembly can be assembled on the vehicle. According to the third aspect of the air conditioner for vehicle of the present invention, since the receiver outlet hose and suction hose bear the flexibility, these are easily connected to increase the workability in assembling. According to the fourth aspect of the air conditioner for vehicle of the present invention, the condenser and the receiver may be sub-assembled to the engine together with the radiator. WE CLAIM : 1. An air conditioner for vehicle wherein it comprises: a sub-assembly with a compressor (15), a condenser (17), a receiver dryer (18) and conduits connecting those which are disposed on a front side of an engine (10), and a receiver outlet hose (24) to be connected to the outlet of the receiver dryer (18); an expansion valve (19) and an evaporator (20), the expansion valve (19) and the evaporator (20) being mounted on a dash panel (8) characterized in that an inlet (19a) of the expansion valve (19) and an outlet (20a) of the evaporator (20) in an engine room (9); a suction hose (25) which is disposed along the vehicle body and connected to the inlet of the compressor (15). 2. An air conditioner for vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein one end portion of a receiver outlet hose (24) is connected to the outlet of the receiver dryer (18) and one end of the suction hose (25) is connected to the outlet of the evaporator (20) of the vehicle body side^-when the sub- assembly is installed on the vehicle body, the other end portion of the receiver outlet hose (24) is connected to the inlet of the expansion valve (19) and the other end portion of the suction hose (25) is connected to the inlet of the compressor (15). 3. An air conditioner for vehicle substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Documents:

1130-del-1999-abstract.pdf

1130-del-1999-claims.pdf

1130-del-1999-correspondence-others.pdf

1130-del-1999-correspondence-po.pdf

1130-del-1999-description (complete).pdf

1130-del-1999-drawings.pdf

1130-del-1999-form-1.pdf

1130-del-1999-form-13.pdf

1130-del-1999-form-19.pdf

1130-del-1999-form-2.pdf

1130-del-1999-form-3.pdf

1130-del-1999-form-5.pdf

1130-del-1999-gpa.pdf

1130-del-1999-petition-137.pdf

1130-del-1999-petition-138.pdf