Air conditioning apparatus for vehicle

A vehicle with an air conditioning apparatus, the air conditioning apparatus comprising:

• an air conditioning duct comprising a passage for conditioned air;
• an outlet on a wall surface of the air conditioning duct for directing a portion of the conditioned air;
• a door disposed in the air conditioning duct, the door comprising a rotation shaft attached to a wall surface of the air conditioning duct, the door being configured to open and close the air conditioning duct by a rotation about the rotation shaft;
• and
• a partition wall attached to the door and protruding perpendicularly from a surface of the door, the partition wall configured to open and close the outlet in response to the rotation of the door, wherein a pair of protrusions expand outwardly from both sides of the wall surface forming a circular arc portion in the air conditioning duct having a diameter greater than a diameter of the air conditioning duct upstream and downstream of the circular arc portion,
• wherein the rotation shaft of the door is positioned at a center of the circular arc portion,
• wherein an entire length of the door is shorter than a diameter of the circular arc portion and longer than a diameter of the air conditioning duct upstream and downstream of the circular arc portion, and
• wherein the outlet is positioned radially within the circular arc portion between the rotation shaft and one of the pair of protrusions.

A method of operating an air conditioning apparatus in a vehicle, the method comprising:

• using a rotating door and a partition wall attached perpendicularly to the rotating door, operating the air conditioning apparatus in a first mode, a second mode, a third mode, and a fourth mode by opening and closing an air conditioning duct for passage of conditioned air and an outlet in the air conditioning duct, wherein in the first mode, the door blocks a flow of conditioned air through the air conditioning duct, wherein in the second mode, the door blocks the flow of conditioned air through the air conditioning duct and the outlet, wherein in the third mode, the door allows the flow of conditioned air through the air conditioning duct and the outlet, and wherein in the fourth mode, the door allows the flow of conditioned air through the air conditioning duct and the partition wall blocks the flow of conditioned air through the outlet, wherein a pair of protrusions expand outwardly from both sides of a wall surface forming a circular arc portion in the air conditioning duct having a diameter greater than a diameter of the air conditioning duct upstream and downstream of the circular arc portion;
• and
• rotating a rotation shaft on the door to open and close the air conditioning duct, wherein the rotation shaft of the door is positioned at a center of the circular arc portion,
• wherein an entire length of the door is shorter than a diameter of the circular arc portion and longer than a diameter of the air conditioning duct upstream and downstream of the circular arc portion, and
• wherein the outlet is positioned radially within the circular arc portion between the rotation shaft and one of the pair of protrusions.