AIR VENTS FOR THE INTERIOR OF A MOTOR VEHICLE

Abstract

An air vent for an interior of a motor vehicle, the air vent including a housing including a longitudinal housing axis; an air outlet opening formed by the housing; at least one air louver that is arranged in the housing and that directs an air flow that exits from the air outlet opening, wherein the air outlet opening is provided with an expanded metal cover that includes loops that are enveloped by bars that include bar walls, wherein the bar walls are arranged at a bar wall angle relative to the longitudinal hosing axis, wherein the at least one air louver is arranged at an air louver angle relative to the longitudinal housing axis and includes a proximal air louver edge that is proximal to the expanded metal cover and a distal air louver edge that is distal from the expanded metal cover.

Claims

1. An air vent for an interior of a motor vehicle, the air vent comprising: a housing including a longitudinal housing axis; an air outlet opening formed by the housing; at least one air louver that is arranged in the housing and that directs an air flow that exits from the air outlet opening, wherein the air outlet opening is provided with an expanded metal cover that includes loops that are enveloped by bars that include bar walls, wherein the bar walls are arranged at a bar wall angle relative to the longitudinal hosing axis, wherein the at least one air louver is arranged at an air louver angle relative to the longitudinal housing axis and includes a proximal air louver edge that is proximal to the expanded metal cover and a distal air louver edge that is distal from the expanded metal cover, wherein the proximal air louver edge is arranged close enough to the expanded metal cover so that an air flow that exits the expanded metal cover has a defined orientation, and wherein the orientation of the air flow that exits the expanded metal cover is a resultant of the air louver angle and the bar wall angle.

2. The air vent according to claim 1, wherein the at least one air louver is arranged in the housing pivotable about an air louver pivot axis so that the air louver angle is adjustable.

3. The air vent according to claim 2, wherein the air louver pivot axis is arranged proximal to the expanded metal cover so that a distance between the proximal air louver edge and the expanded metal cover that is increased by a pivot movement of the air louver facilitates the air flow that exits the expanded metal cover with the defined orientation.

4. The air vent according to claim 2, wherein the proximal air louver edge coincides with the air louver pivot axis.

5. The air vent according to claim 1, wherein the at least one air louver includes plural air louvers arranged parallel to each other in the housing.

6. The air vent according to claim 1, wherein the expanded metal cover has a convex or a concave curvature to form a cambered expanded metal cover with a plane of curvature that is oriented parallel to the air louver pivot axis.

7. The air vent according to claim 6, wherein the bar walls of the cambered expanded metal cover define respective bar wall planes, wherein the respective bar wall planes intersect with the longitudinal housing axis, wherein absolute values of intersection angles of the respective bar wall planes with the longitudinal housing axis increase with an increasing distance of the bar walls from the longitudinal housing axis.

8. The air vent according to claim 7, wherein absolute values of intersection angle changes from one respective bar wall to an adjacent respective bar wall are constant.

9. The air vent according to claim 7, wherein absolute values of intersection angle changes from one respective bar wall to an adjacent respective bar wall vary.

10. The air vent according to claim 1, wherein the air vent forms a defroster for a wind screen of a motor vehicle.

11. The air vent according to claim 1, wherein the air flow that exits the expanded metal cover is laminar.

12. The air vent according to claim 1, wherein the bar wall angle is between 20 and 70.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] Further advantages and a better comprehension of the invention can be derived from the subsequent description of advantageous embodiments with reference to a drawing figure, wherein:

[0024] FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of an air vent with an expanded metal cover;

[0025] FIG, 2 illustrates a first embodiment of the air vent cut along section lines A-A in FIG. 1 with fixed air conducting louvers;

[0026] FIG. 3 illustrates a second embodiment of the air vent cut along section lines A-A in FIG. 1 with pivotable air conducting louvers;

[0027] FIG. 4 illustrates a sectional view of the second embodiment of the air vent according to the section line A-A in FIG. 1 with air louvers that are pivoted relative to a longitudinal housing axis;

[0028] FIG. 5 illustrates a blown up detail of an expanded metal cover to show the principle of an air vent that produces an air flow parallel to a housing axis;

[0029] FIG. 6 illustrates a blown up detail of the expanded metal cover to illustrate the principle of an air vent with a deflected air flow;

[0030] FIG. 7 illustrates a sectional view of a third embodiment with a convex cambered expanded metal cover; and

[0031] FIG. 8 illustrates a sectional view of a fourth embodiment of the air louver with a concave cambered expanded metal cover

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0032] The air vent according to the invention is illustrated in its entirety in FIGS. 1 4 and 7-8 and is overall designated with the reference numeral 10, FIGS. 5 and 6 show an operating principle of the air vent according to the invention.

[0033] FIGS. 1-4 show the air vent 10 including a housing 11 that forms an air outlet opening 12 and air inlet opening 13. A longitudinal housing axis 14 extends in the housing 11 from the air inlet opening 13 to the air outlet opening 12 parallel to an air flow L, c.f. FIGS. 2-8.

[0034] Air louvers 15 arranged in the housing 11 are illustrated in FIGS. 1-8. The air louvers 15 include an air louver edge 17 that is proximal to the air outlet opening and an air louver edge 18 that is distal from the air outlet opening. The air flow L that exits the air outlet opening 12 is oriented by the air louvers 15. The air louvers 15 respectively enclose an air louver angle with the longitudinal housing axis 14.

[0035] In FIG. 2 the air louvers 15 are arranged in the housing 11 non-movable in a fan shape which is typical for a defroster. This arrangement puts a fanned air flow onto the wind screen in order to dry condensation at the wind screen.

[0036] FIGS. 3-8 illustrate an air vent 10 providing ventilation for an interior of a motor vehicle and including air louvers 15 that are oriented parallel to each other and that are arranged in the housing 11 and pivotable about a pivot axis 16. The pivot axis 16 coincides substantially with the air louver edge 17 that is proximal to the air outlet opening. The air louvers 15 are pivotable in the housing 11 by a control element 20 (c.f. FIG. 1). The air louvers 15 are combined into a louver group.

[0037] The air louver angle is a function of an orientation of the air louvers in the housing 11.

[0038] It is appreciated that the air vent 10 can include a second air louver group in addition to the first air louver group wherein the air louvers 15 of the second air louver group are arranged orthogonal to the air louvers 15 of the first air louver group in the housing 11.

[0039] The air outlet opening 12 of the air vent 10 is provided with an expanded metal cover 21 in FIG. 2 and in FIGS. 3-8.

[0040] FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate a second embodiment of the air vent 10. The air louvers 15 of this air vent 10 are movably arranged in the housing 11.

[0041] In FIG. 3 the air louvers 15 are arranged parallel to the longitudinal housing axis 14 with respect to an outflow direction. The air flow L is influenced only by the expanded metal cover 21 with respect to an outflow direction of the airflow. The deflection of the air flow L is represented by the directional arrow P.

[0042] In FIG. 4 the air louvers 15 are pivoted relative to the longitudinal housing axis 14 and enclose a louver angle greater than 0 with the longitudinal housing axis 14. Thus, the air flow L is flowed pre oriented to the expanded metal cover 21 so that the air flow L exits the expanded metal cover 21 according to the arrow P. In this embodiment the air louvers 15 as well as the expanded metal cover 21 influence an exit direction of the air flow L from the expanded metal cover 21

[0043] A function of the air vent according to the invention is now described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

[0044] FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate the expanded metal cover 21 in a highly magnified detail. FIGS. 5 and 6 show an operating principle of the expanded metal cover. It is evident that the expanded metal cover 21 includes openings configured as loops 22 that are enveloped by bars 23. The bars 23 are fabricated at a slant angle in the expanded metal cover 21. The bars 23 form bar walls 24 that enclose a bar wall angle with the longitudinal housing axis 14. The bar wall angle is greater than 0 and less than 90. In an advantageous embodiment the bar wall angles are between 20 and 70. In the illustrated embodiment the bar wall angles are approximately 45.

[0045] FIG. 5 illustrates the air inflow direction of the air vent 10 with the arrow X which is oriented parallel the longitudinal housing axis.

[0046] The bar wall angles of the bar walls 24 of the expanded metal cover 21 have a first angular amount. The bar wall angles in this embodiment have the amount of approximately 45 with respect to the longitudinal housing axis 14. The air flow L which is oriented parallel to the longitudinal housing axis coming from the air inlet opening 13 is flowed towards the bar walls 24 of the expanded metal cover 21. The pre oriented air flow L is now additionally oriented by the bar wall angle at the bar walls 24. In this embodiment the resultant is approximately 45. A direction of an air flow L that exits the expanded metal cover 21 is represented by the directional arrow P.

[0047] In FIG. 6 the air inflow direction of the air vent 10 is indicated by the arrow X wherein the air flow L goes through a first deflection with respect to the longitudinal housing axis 14. In this embodiment the deflection is approximately 30. The pre oriented air flow L then flows along the bar walls 24 of the expanded metal cover 21, The bar walls 24 are oriented at a bar wall angle . In this particular embodiment the bar wall angles are approximately 45. Thus, the air flow L goes through a second deflection at the expanded metal cover 21 so that the resulting air flow exits the expanded metal cover 21 according to the illustrated directional arrow P.

[0048] FIG. 7 illustrates another embodiment of the air vent 10. This embodiment shows a cylindrical convex expanded metal cover 21 that is arranged at the air outlet opening 12. The convex camber of the expanded metal cover 21 has a plane of camber K which is oriented parallel to a pivot axis 16 of the air louvers 15.

[0049] The air louvers 15 of the air vent 10 are arranged in the housing 11 parallel to the longitudinal housing axis 14 so that the air flow L is conducted pre oriented parallel to the longitudinal housing axis 14 to the convex cambered expanded metal cover 21.

[0050] The bar wall angle of the non-illustrated bar walls 24 (c.f. FIGS. 5 and 6) increases with increasing distance from the longitudinal housing axis 14. The bar walls 24 that are introduced into the expanded metal cover 21 at identical distance from the longitudinal housing axis 14 have an identical absolute value of bar angle.

[0051] The bar walls 24 spread the air flow L due to the different bar wall angles so that the air flow L that exits the expanded metal cover 21 is exhausted into a vehicle interior in a fan shape. Thus, passengers or a wind screen can be subjected to a large area air flow.

[0052] When the air flow L is pre directed at the air louvers 15 that are pivoted relative to the longitudinal housing axis 14, a spread of the air flow that exits in the fan shape remains identical, however, an overall outflow direction of the air flow from the expanded metal cover 21 is changed. An air vent 10 of this type provides an individual the adjustment for passengers in order to generate an atmosphere with optimum comfort.

[0053] In another advantageous embodiment the expanded metal cover 21 is not cylindrical convex but oval convex which facilitates a different fan spread of the air flow L.

[0054] FIG. 8 illustrates another embodiment of the air vent 10. The expanded metal cover 21 is cambered cylindrical concave. This concave camber of the expanded metal cover 21 includes a plane of camber K which is oriented parallel to the pivot axis 16 of the air louvers 15.

[0055] Also in this embodiment the absolute value of the bar wall angle of the bar walls 24, c.f. FIGS. 5 and 6, increases with an increasing distance from the longitudinal housing axis 14. The bar walls 24 with identical distance from the longitudinal housing axis 14 have an identical absolute value of bar wall angles .

[0056] The air louvers 15 behind the expanded metal cover 21 are oriented parallel to the housing axis so that also the air flow L at the air louvers 15 is pre oriented parallel to the housing axis. The cylindrical concave cambered expanded metal cover 21 directs the air flow L according to the respective bar wall angles of the expanded metal cover 21 so that the air flow L that exits from the expanded metal cover 21 is laminar. This laminar air flow L that is represented by the arrow P can be oriented in a controlled manner e.g. to a spot that is covered with condensation at a wind shield in order to quickly dry the wind shield and thus facilitates a very precise and effective ventilation of an interior of a motor vehicle. Alternatively people in the interior can be subjected to a spot flow.

[0057] An advantageous embodiment relates to an air vent 10 wherein an air flow L is oriented by a combination of pivoted air louvers 15 and a concave cambered expanded metal cover 21. The laminar air flow that exits the expanded metal cover 21 can thus be directed in its entirety as a function of a pivot angle of the air louvers 15. Accordingly also the air louver 10 of FIG. 7 optimizes a comfortable atmosphere for the passenger.

[0058] In another advantageous embodiment the expanded metal cover 21 is not configured cylindrical concave but oval concave so that different flow patterns of the air flow L can be provided.

[0059] It is also possible to provide the expanded metal cover 21 spherical convex or spherical concave.

[0060] The air flow L that is deflected at the spherical convex expanded metal cover 21 is released into the passenger compartment cone shaped and provides a particularly large area flow into the passenger compartment.

[0061] The air flow L that is deflected at a spherical concave expanded metal cover 21 is released into the passenger compartment in a cone shape and subsequently focused at a point. This air flow L that is deflected into the point provides particularly precise ventilation.

[0062] The air vent 10 according to the invention provides an individually controllable air flow for passengers in a vehicle interior so that the air flow can be adapted to virtually any situation.

REFERENCE NUMBERALS AND DESIGNATIONS

[0063] 10 air vent

[0064] 11 housing

[0065] 12 air outlet opening

[0066] 13 air inlet opening

[0067] 14 longitudinal housing axis

[0068] 15 air louver

[0069] 16 pivot axis

[0070] 17 air louver edge proximal to air outlet opening

[0071] 18 air louver edge distal from air outlet opening

[0072] 20 control element

[0073] 21 expanded metal cover

[0074] 22 loop

[0075] 23 bar

[0076] 24 bar wall

[0077] K curvature plane

[0078] L air flow

[0079] P directional arrow

[0080] X directional arrow

[0081] air louver angle

[0082] bar wall angle