Air duct for vehicle air conditioning and air conditioner for vehicle

An air duct for vehicle air conditioning, for guiding a conditioned air to a vehicle compartment outlet port, wherein the conditioned air is generated as air is blown into an air conditioning case by a blower, and is heat-exchanged by a heat exchanger in the air conditioning case, the air duct comprising:

• an upstream-side duct section into which the conditioned air from the air conditioning case flows;
• a downstream-side duct section for introducing the conditioned air into the vehicle compartment outlet port;
• a bending section formed between the upstream-side duct section and the downstream-side duct section, for bending a flow direction of the entire conditioned air passing through the upstream-side duct section and for guiding the conditioned air from the upstream-side duct section to the downstream-side duct section, and
• a passage dividing wall provided within the bending section to partition a first passage and a second passage from each other, wherein an upstream end of the passage dividing wall is positioned downstream of the downstream end of the upstream-side duct section within the bending section in the air flow direction, and a downstream end of the passage dividing wall is positioned upstream of the upstream end of the downstream-side duct section within the bending section in the air flow direction;
• wherein the bending section includes the first passage and the second passage for branching the conditioned air flowing from the upstream-side duct section toward a bending outerperiphery side and a bending inner periphery side in the bending section,
• wherein the bending section includes an inner-periphery-side inner wall surface extending between the upstream-side duct section and the downstream-side duct section, the entire outer-periphery-side inner wall surface being enlarged toward a bending inner periphery beyond an inner reference line, on cross-sections of the upstream-side duct section, the downstream-side duct section and the bending section parallel to the flow direction of the conditioned air,
• wherein the inner reference line is a virtual curved line connecting an inner-periphery-side inner wall surface of the upstream-side duct section and an inner-periphery-side inner wall surface of the downstream-side duct section by an arc, to which a virtual straight line extending from a downstream end of the upstream-side duct section connected to the inner-periphery-side inner wall surface of the bending section, in parallel to the flow direction of the conditioned air introduced from the upstream-side duct section into the bending section, and a virtual straight line extending from an upstream end of the downstream-side duct section connected to the inner-periphery-side inner wall surface of the bending section, in parallel to the flow direction of the conditioned air introduced from the bending section into the downstream-side duct section, are tangent;
• wherein the outer-periphery-side inner wall surface of the bending section extends in a direction defined by an extension of a line extending from an inner-periphery-side inner wall surface of the upstream-side duct section to an outer-periphery-side inner wall surface of the upstream-side duct section, the direction being perpendicular to the flow direction of the conditioned air in the upstream-side duct section;
• wherein the bending section and the upstream-side duct section are configured such that the outer-periphery-side inner wall surface of the bending section is concave toward an inside at an upstream connection portion connected to the upstream-side duct section, to allow the flow direction of the conditioned air introduced into the first passage to form an acute angle with respect to the flow direction of the conditioned air directed from the upstream-side duct section to the bending section;
• wherein the bending section and the downstream-side duct section are configured such that the outer-periphery-side inner wall surface of the bending section is concave toward an inside at a downstream connection portion connected to the downstream-side duct section, to allow the conditioned air flowing through the first passage and the conditioned air flowing through the second passage to be joined while flowing in intersecting directions;
• and
• passage cross-sectional areas of the first passage and the second passage are substantially uniform in the air flow direction.

An air duct for vehicle air conditioning, for guiding conditioned air to a vehicle compartment outlet port, wherein the conditioned air is generated as air is blown into an air conditioning case by a blower, and is heat-exchanged by a heat exchanger in the air conditioning case, the air duct comprising:

• an upstream-side duct section extending in a substantially-straight shape, into which the conditioned air from the air conditioning case flows;
• a downstream-side duct section extending in a substantially-straight shape, the downstream-side duct section blowing out the conditioned air in a direction different from a flow direction of the conditioned air passing through the upstream-side duct section;
• a bending section connecting the upstream-side duct section and the downstream-side duct section;
• and
• a dividing member arranged in the bending section for dividing an interior of the bending section into a first passage arranged at a bending inner periphery side and a second passage arranged at a bending outer periphery side,
• wherein the bending section has at least one of a shape in which an outer intersection line extends outside an outer reference line, and a shape in which an inner intersection line extends inside an inner reference line, on a reference cross-section including an upstream air flow direction of the conditioned air flowing in the upstream-side duct section and a downstream air flow direction of the conditioned air flowing in the downstream-side duct section,
• wherein the outer reference line is a line connecting an outer-periphery-side inner wall surface of the upstream-side duct section and an outer-periphery-side inner wall surface of the downstream-side duct section via an arc to which the upstream air flow direction and the downstream air flow direction are tangent,
• wherein the inner reference line is a line connecting an inner-periphery-side inner wall surface of the upstream-side duct section and an inner-periphery-side inner wall surface of the downstream-side duct section via an arc to which the upstream air flow direction and the downstream-side duct section via an arc to which the upstream air flow direction and the downstream air flow direction are tangent,
• wherein the outer intersection line is a line of intersection between an outer-periphery-side inner wall surface of the bending section and the reference cross-section,
• wherein the inner intersection line is a line of intersection between an inner-periphery-side inner wall surface of the bending section and the reference cross-section, and
• wherein the dividing member includes a wall surface arranged at a side of the first passage to conform to the outer-periphery-side inner wall surface of the bending section, and a wall surface arranged at a side of the second passage to conform to the inner-periphery-side inner wall surface of the bending section;
• wherein the bending section includes an inner-periphery-side inner wall surface extending between the upstream-side duct section and the downstream-side duct section, the entire outer-periphery-side inner wall surface being enlarged toward a bending inner periphery beyond an inner reference line, on cross-sections of the upstream-side duct section, the downstream-side duct section and the bending section parallel to the flow direction of the conditioned air;
• wherein the outer-periphery-side inner wall surface of the bending section extends in a direction defined by an extension of a line extending from an inner-periphery-side inner wall surface of the upstream-side duct section to an outer-periphery-side inner wall surface of the upstream-side duct section, the direction being perpendicular to the flow direction of the conditioned air in the upstream-side duct section;
• passage cross-sectional areas of the first passage and the second passage are substantially uniform in the air flow direction;
• wherein an upstream end of the dividing member is positioned downstream of an upstream end of the outer-peripheral-side inner wall surface within the bending section in the air flow direction, and a downstream end of the dividing member is positioned upstream of the downstream end of the outer-peripheral-side inner wall surface within the bending section in the air flow direction.