Air Conditioning Unit
20230347707 · 2023-11-02
Inventors
Cpc classification
H01Q1/3291
ELECTRICITY
International classification
Abstract
The present invention relates to an air conditioning unit configured to be mounted on a vehicle and being configured such that an antenna connected to an antenna cable can be removably installed in the air conditioning unit and to an air conditioning system for a vehicle comprising the air conditioning unit according to the invention and an air distribution unit that is configured to be mounted internally in the vehicle and to be connected to the air conditioning unit so as to distribute conditioned air from the air conditioning unit inside the vehicle, wherein the air distribution unit is configured to receive the antenna cable.
Claims
1. An air conditioning unit configured to be mounted on a vehicle, comprising: an antenna connected to an antenna cable that is removably installed in the air conditioning unit.
2. The air conditioning unit of claim 1, wherein the air conditioning unit comprises a housing that spatially separates an interior of the air conditioning unit from the environment and that the antenna can be arranged inside the housing.
3. The air conditioning unit of claim 2, wherein the air conditioning unit comprises a casing inside the housing, the casing forming an air duct serving as at least a portion of a first air circuit inside the air conditioning unit, and the antenna can be arranged between the casing and the housing.
4. The air conditioning unit of claim 3, wherein the casing has an accommodation area for the antenna at an outer surface of the casing, the accommodation area being shaped to match the form of the antenna so as to accommodate the antenna.
5. The air conditioning unit of claim 3, wherein the casing has guiding means at an outer surface of the casing for guiding the antenna cable.
6. The air conditioning unit of claim 3, wherein the casing is formed of a plastic foam material, preferably including expanded polypropylene.
7. The air conditioning unit of claim 1, wherein the air conditioning unit includes the antenna.
8. The air conditioning unit of claim 7, wherein the antenna is included in an assembled component that further includes a signal emitter and the antenna cable is a power cable.
9. The air conditioning unit of claim 8, wherein the power cable is connected to a power supply provided inside the air conditioning unit.
10. An air conditioning system for a vehicle comprising an air conditioning unit and an air distribution unit that is configured to be mounted internally in the vehicle and to be connected to the air conditioning unit so as to distribute conditioned air from the air conditioning unit inside the vehicle, wherein the air distribution unit is configured to receive the antenna cable.
11. The air conditioning system of claim 10, wherein the air distribution unit comprises a mounting area for mounting a signal emitter and the air distribution unit is configured such that the signal emitter can be connected with the antenna cable.
12. The air conditioning system of claim 11, wherein the mounting area comprises snap-in elements by which the signal emitter can be mounted to the mounting area.
13. The air conditioning system of claim 11 or 12, wherein the air distribution unit comprises a removable cover covering the mounting area.
14. The air conditioning system of claim 11, wherein the air conditioning system includes the signal emitter.
15. The air conditioning system of claim 11, wherein in a mounted state, the air conditioning unit is connected to a power supply, wherein the antenna and the signal emitter can be connected to the power supply of the air conditioning unit as well.
16. The air conditioning system of claim 11, wherein the air conditioning system comprises a control, wherein the antenna and the signal emitter can be controlled by the control of the air conditioning system.
17. A construction kit including an antenna and an antenna cable, wherein the antenna and the antenna cable are configured for being installed in the air conditioning unit or the air conditioning.
Description
[0021] The present embodiments will be further explained in the following by use of the exemplary embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which
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[0043] Identical components of the first and second embodiment of the air conditioning unit are assigned identical reference numbers in the drawings and in the following detailed description. The reference numbers of corresponding components of the first and second embodiment of the air conditioning unit that, however, differ from each other in the specific design are additionally marked with the letters A and B, wherein “A” refers to the first embodiment and “B” refers to the second embodiment of the air conditioning unit.
[0044] In the framework of the present embodiments, terms relating to an orientation or direction like, for example, front, rear, side, bottom, top and the like refer to the air conditioning unit or system when mounted on the rooftop of a vehicle and with respect to the travelling direction of the vehicle, unless explicitly mentioned otherwise.
[0045]
[0046] As it is typical for such air conditioning units, two separated air circuits are formed inside the air conditioning unit 1, an interior vehicle air circuit and an ambient air circuit. In the framework of the present embodiments, the air circuit of the vehicle interior air is designated as the first air circuit and the air circuit of the ambient air is designated as the second air circuit.
[0047] For the first air circuit, the air conditioning unit 1 has on its underside a first opening 20 and a second opening 21. The first opening 20 servs as the inlet of the vehicle interior air. The second opening 21 servs as the outlet of conditioned air that is to be fed back into the interior of the vehicle. Thereby, the connection area 24 provides for a sealed connection between the air conditioning unit 1 and the roof 110. For a proper distribution of conditioned air inside the vehicle the first opening 20 and the second opening 21 are coupled with the air distribution unit 100 which is mounted inside the vehicle, as it will be explained in further detail below with reference to
[0048] For the second air circuit, the air conditioning unit 1 has on its sides first air vents 22. The first air vents 22 serve as the inlet for ambient air. Second air vents 23 are located on the back side of the air conditioning unit 1. The second air vents 23 serve as the ambient air outlet.
[0049]
[0050] On the base portion 19 inside the air conditioning unit 1, a casing 16 is arranged. The casing 16 forms an air duct inside serving as a portion of the first air circuit. The casing 16 is formed of expanded polypropylene which has good temperature isolating properties and is a very light-weight material. The casing 16 is composed of three molded parts, namely the first molded part 17A, the second molded part 18A and the third molded part 27. The casing 16 is arranged at the front side of the air conditioning unit 1. The second molded part 18A and the first molded part 17A are held together and in place by the housing 2. In particular, the second molded part 18A is held in place by the lid part 25 of the housing 2.
[0051] The first molded part 17A and the second molded part 18A are connected to the third molded part 27. The third molded part 27 is installed at the base portion 19 in the region of the evaporator 3. The casing 16 thereby forms an air duct representing the entire first air circuit inside the air conditioning unit 1. Since the evaporator 3 is not intended to be replaceable as it is the case with the fan arrangements 5 and 6, the third molded part 27 remains the same in both the first and the second embodiment of the air conditioning unit 1. Each of the first molded part 17A, the second molded part 18A and the third molded part 27 is formed of expanded polypropylene.
[0052] At the rear side of the air conditioning unit 1 a condenser 4 is arranged. The condenser 4 is enclosed by the condenser housing 30. The condenser housing 30 is also made of expanded polypropylene and is open at its front and rear side allowing air to pass through. The front opening 31 is round in shape in order to match with the impeller 11A (second impeller of the first fan arrangement). The condenser is cooled by ambient air which is sucked through the first air vents 22 and guided to the condenser 4 by the second fan 10A of the first fan arrangement 5. The second fan 10A is driven by the common motor 13. Hot air is discharged through the second air vents 23 and guided back into the environment.
[0053] In
[0054] The first fan 7A of the first fan arrangement 5 is a centrifugal fan that discharges air in a radial direction with respect to the axis of rotation of the fan. The second fan 10A of the first fan arrangement 5 is an axial fan. As mentioned above, both the first fan 7A and the second fan 10A of the first fan arrangement 5 are driven together by the common motor 13. The common motor 13, the first fan 7A and the second fan 10A together form the first fan arrangement 5 with which the air conditioning unit 1 is equipped.
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[0056] Further in
[0057] In
[0058] With regard to the ambient air, the ambient air enters the second air circuit through the first air vents 22 on both lateral sides of the air conditioning unit 1. The ambient air is guided to the second fan 10A of the first fan arrangement 5. The second impeller 11A fits into the front opening 31 of the condenser housing 30 in order to effectively and efficiently force the ambient air to flow around the condenser 4. In the condenser 4, the vaporous coolant is cooled down by the ambient air and condenses, and the air in turn is heated up. The heated air is finally discharged back into the environment via the second air vents 23 located being at the rear side of the air conditioning unit 1.
[0059] In
[0060] When the mounting is completed, the lid part 25 of the housing 2 is placed onto the base part 26 of the housing 2, thereby closing the air conditioning unit 1. The lid part 25 secures the second molded part 18A from being moved upwards and, thus, keeps the casing 16 together.
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[0062] The second fan arrangement 6 includes the first fan 7B and the second fan 10B.
[0063] In the second fan arrangement each of the first fan 7B and the second fan 10B is equipped with a separate motor, while the first motor 14 drives the first fan 7B and the second motor 15 drives the second fan 10B. The first and the second motors 14 and 15 are controlled separately and can, thus, be driven more effectively and efficiently according to the circumstances and user's needs.
[0064] In analogy to the first fan arrangement 5, the first fan 7B of the second fan arrangement 6 is designated to generate an air flow in the first air circuit in order to enhance an exchange of thermal energy between the air flowing in the first air circuit and the evaporator 3. Therefore, the isolating casing 16 encloses the first impeller 8B of the first fan 7B of the second fan arrangement 6.
[0065] Assembling the second fan arrangement 6 also works analogously to the first fan arrangement 5. After the removable components of the first fan arrangement 5 and its casing 16, as illustrated in
[0066] When the mounting is completed, the lid part 25 of the housing 2 is placed onto the base part 26 of the housing 2, thereby closing the air conditioning unit 1. The lid part 25 thereby secures the second molded part 18B from being moved upwards and, thus, keeps the casing 16 together.
[0067] In analogy to
[0068] The second fan 10B of the second fan arrangement 6 is quite similar to the second fan 10A of the first fan arrangement 5 except that it equipped with a separate motor, namely the second motor 15. The second fan 10B and the second motor 15 form the other one of the two separate components of the second fan arrangement 6. The second motor 15 is fixed to a mounting bracket that is mounted on the base portion 19.
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[0070] With regard to the interior air of the vehicle, the air enters the first air circuit through the first opening 20 and flows around and passes by the evaporator 3. Thereby thermal energy is extracted from the air, and consequently the air cools down. The first fan 7B then takes in the cooled air axially from both sides, as explained above. The air is discharged in the radial direction through the blades of the first impeller 8B. In order to avoid a mixing of the discharge air and the intake air again, the air duct formed by the first molded part 17B and the second molded part 18B fits with the circumferential edge of the first impeller 8B at both air intake sides of the first impeller 8B, meaning the distal end and the proximal end of the first impeller 8A with respect to the first motor 14. After being discharged in the radial direction by the first fan 7B, the air is guided downwards and is fed through the second opening 21 back into the vehicle.
[0071] The air conditioning unit 1 according to the first embodiment is illustrated in
[0072] As illustrated in
[0073] Adjacent to the cover insert 61, a cable guiding part 65 is placed inside the air duct of the first air circuit formed by the third molded part 27, after the cables (not shown) are installed. The cable guiding part 65 protects the cables from damage and prevents the cables from moving around caused by the air flow and vibrations. The cables (not shown) are routed to the outside via the air vents 22 at the side of the base part 26 of housing 2.
[0074] The connection hub 50 has four ports 52 configured and designed to receive the cables therethrough, as can be identified best in
[0075] In
[0076] The cable or cables (not shown), respectively, are further guided to the inside of the vehicle to an air distribution unit 100, as shown in
[0077]
[0078] It is to be noted that in the afore-said reference has been made to the first embodiment of the air conditioning unit 1 when describing the features if the connection hub 50 and/or the antenna 80 wherein these features work with the second embodiment of the air conditioning unit 1 as well and in the same manner as described with the first embodiment.
REFERENCE NUMERALS
[0079] 1 Air conditioning unit [0080] 2 housing [0081] 3 evaporator [0082] 4 condenser [0083] 5 first fan arrangement [0084] 6 second fan arrangement [0085] 7A first fan of first fan arrangement [0086] 7B first fan of second fan arrangement [0087] 8A first impeller of first fan arrangement [0088] 8B first impeller of second fan arrangement [0089] 9A first shaft of first fan arrangement [0090] 9B first shaft of second fan arrangement [0091] 10A second fan of first fan arrangement [0092] 10B second fan of second fan arrangement [0093] 11A second impeller of first fan arrangement [0094] 11B second impeller of second fan arrangement [0095] 12A second shaft of first fan arrangement [0096] 12B second shaft of second fan arrangement [0097] 13 common motor [0098] 14 first motor [0099] 15 second motor [0100] 16 casing [0101] 17A first molded part for first fan arrangement [0102] 17B first molded part for second fan arrangement [0103] 18A second molded part for first fan arrangement [0104] 18B second molded part for second fan arrangement [0105] 19 base portion [0106] 20 first opening [0107] 21 second opening [0108] 22 first air vents [0109] 23 second air vents [0110] 24 connection area [0111] 25 lid part of housing [0112] 26 base part of housing [0113] 27 third molded part [0114] 30 condenser housing [0115] 31 front opening [0116] 40 control unit [0117] 50 connection hub [0118] 51 cable ducts [0119] 52 port [0120] 53 connection means [0121] 60 cutout region [0122] 61 cover insert [0123] 62 through holes [0124] 65 cable guiding part [0125] 80 antenna [0126] 81 accommodation area [0127] 82 groove [0128] 100 air distribution unit [0129] 101 cover [0130] 102 outlet of air distribution unit [0131] 110 roof