Air conditioning apparatus for vehicle

An air conditioning apparatus for a vehicle having a passenger compartment, said air conditioning apparatus comprising:

• an air conditioning case having a first opening for blowing air toward a lower side of the passenger compartment and a second opening for blowing air toward an inner surface of a windshield;
• a heating heat exchanger for heating air passing therethrough, said heating heat exchanger being disposed at a lower side of said air conditioning case so that a cool air bypass passage through which air bypasses said heating heat exchanger is formed at an upper side of said heating heat exchanger;
• an air mixing door for adjusting an amount of air passing through said heating heat exchanger and an amount of air passing through said cool air bypass passage;
• and
• a mode door for opening and closing said second opening, said mode door having a rotation shaft, a top end opposite to said rotation shaft and a side end, wherein:
• said air conditioning case has an air mixing chamber in which air from said cool air bypass passage and air from said heating heat exchanger are mixed at an upper side in said air conditioning case;
• said mode door is rotatable to an intermediate position during an air outlet mode where both said first and second openings are opened, said mode door defining a first air passage between said top end of said mode door and said air conditioning case as well as a second air passage between said side end of said mode door and said air conditioning case, said second air passage having a larger sectional area than the sectional area of said first air passage;
• said side end of said mode door has first and second side end portions in a width direction of said mode door;
• said case has first and second inner wall portions in the width direction at positions corresponding to said first and second side end portions of said mode door;
• and
• said second air passage is formed between said first side end portion of said mode door and said first inner wall portion, as well as between said second side end portion of said mode door and said second inner wall portion.

An air conditioning apparatus for a vehicle having a passenger compartment, said air conditioning apparatus comprising:

• an air conditioning case having a first opening for blowing air toward a lower side of the passenger compartment and a second opening for blowing air toward an inner surface of a windshield;
• a heating heat exchanger for heating air passing therethrough, said heating heat exchanger being disposed of said air conditioning case at a lower side so that a cool air bypass passage through which air bypasses said heating heat exchanger is formed at an upper side of said heating heat exchanger;
• an air mixing door for adjusting an amount of air passing through said heating heat exchanger and an amount of air passing through said cool air bypass passage;
• and
• a mode door for opening and closing said second opening, said mode door having a rotation shaft a top end opposite to said rotation shaft and a side end, wherein:
• said air conditioning case has an air mixing chamber in which air from said cool air bypass passage and air from said heating heat exchanger are mixed at an upper side in said air conditioning case;
• said mode door is rotatable to an intermediate position during an air outlet mode where both said first and second openings are opened, said mode door defining a first air passage between said top end of said mode door and said air conditioning case as well as a second air passage between said side end of said mode door and said air conditioning case, said second air passage having a larger sectional area than the sectional are of said first air passage;
• said mode door is disposed in said air conditioning case in such a manner that said rotation shaft is arranged at a downstream position of an air flow from said cool air bypass passage toward said air mixing chamber, and said top end of said mode door is disposed toward an upstream side of said air flow during said air outlet mode.