Inside/outside air switching device with rotary door, and vehicle air conditioner using the same

An air conditioner for a vehicle, comprising:

• an integrated case having first and second inside ports from which air inside a passenger compartment is introduced, and an outside port from which air outside the passenger compartment is introduced;
• a rotary door for opening and closing the first and second inside ports and the outside port, the rotary door being disposed in the case;
• a blower for blowing air introduced in the case;
• an air conditioning unit for adjusting temperature of air blown from the blower, the air conditioning unit being disposed inside a dashboard of the vehicle at an approximate center in a vehicle width direction, wherein:
• the case and the blower are disposed inside the dashboard to be offset from the air conditioning unit in the vehicle width direction to a front-passenger's seat side;
• the rotary door includes a circumference wall rotatable around a rotation axis, first and second shafts provided on the rotation axis at two end sides of the circumference wall in the rotation axis, two side plates connected to the circumference wall and the first and second shafts at the two end sides of the circumference wall in the rotation axis, a seal member disposed on peripheral surfaces of the circumference wall and the side plates;
• the first inside port and the outside port are provided in a rotatable range of the circumference wall;
• the case has therein a sealing surface protruding from a position between the first inside port and the outside port to an inner side, and the sealing surface defines a first space at a side of the first inside port and a second space at a side of the outside port in the case;
• the seal member of the rotary door is disposed to be elastically deformable and to press-contact the sealing surface;
• the sealing surface has an end at a side away from the first inside port in the case, and the end of the sealing surface is separated from a wall surface of the case by a clearance;
• and
• the clearance is set to have a predetermined dimension so that the seal member of the rotary door is movable from the first space to the second space through the clearance while the rotary door is assembled into the case from the first inside port.