Technical Field

The invention relates to an air duct that effectively and homogeneously cools and heats passenger sections in accordance with standards through air conditioning units of trains, buses, minibuses, metro buses, and similar vehicles carrying passengers in traffic.

State of the Art

Along with the technological developments experienced today, efforts have been made to increase user / passenger comfort in various vehicles, especially public transportation vehicles. Heating, cooling, and ventilation (air conditioning) systems are among the systems that provide convenience and comfort in motor vehicles. The air conditioner's task is to remove bad odors at the low sound level in the vehicle and provide air circulation by adjusting the ambient temperature and humidity to the desired conditions. The air conditioning system in a vehicle basically consists of a compressor, condenser, moisture - holding filter, expansion valve, and evaporator.

In the current technique, two techniques are used: pressing the air from the air conditioning unit into the air duct, which is the space between the ceiling side covers, the vehicle sidewall, and the ceiling, and directing the air coming out of the air conditioning unit into a duct made of textile. While the air coming out of the air conditioning unit is pressed into the air duct, turbulence occurs in the air duct due to the inhomogeneous cross - section and electrical devices placed in the air duct. The turbulence that occurs leads to a large loss of yield. With this method, it is technically difficult to achieve passenger comfort by providing a homogeneous temperature distribution. The other method, in which the air coming out of the air conditioning unit is directed into a duct made of textile material through diverters and is distributed into the vehicle via airline hoses, has disadvantages due to the use of textile air ducts. While producing the air duct made of the said textile material, cutting, sewing, gluing, and similar processes requiring intensive labor must be performed. While the intensive labor required for the production of the said air ducts increases the production costs and time, the processes using chemicals such as gluing have disadvantages in terms of worker health. On the other hand, in order to use air ducts made of textile material, the material must be sealed. If the air duct is not sealed, there are losses in the amount of air directed into the cabin, and the desired cooling / heating performance cannot be achieved. At present, many studies have been carried out in order to increase the performance of air conditioning systems of vehicles and especially to ensure the impermeability of textile air ducts. One of the studies carried out to increase air conditioning performance is the invention described in patent no. EP2800684B1 titled “Rail Vehicle With the Air - Conditioning Duct in the Roof Region and Method for Constructing A Roof Region of A Rail Vehicle.” The invention relates to a rail vehicle having a roof area, in the longitudinal direction of which an air conditioning duct is laid and which is delimited through an inner roof in relation to a passenger compartment; the air conditioning duct is composed in its longitudinal direction of at least two air conditioning duct elements which are connected to each other via the sealing frame which is prepositioned. Besides, a method has been presented to construct a ceiling compartment for such a rail vehicle.

One of the studies carried out to ensure the impermeability of air ducts made of textile material is the invention subject to the patent no. PCT/ FR98/01911 titled "Soundproofing and Waterproofing Device for an Air Conduit, in Particular in A Ventilation, Heating and / or Air - Conditioning Installation." The invention concerns the field of devices comprising a part for soundproofing and a part for waterproofing air conduits, particularly in motor vehicle ventilation, heating, and / or air - conditioning installations. The invention is characterized in that these two parts are made of a single piece into a monobloc element, ensuring both functions. A study conducted on the installation of a textile air duct in a vehicle is an invention described in patent no EP2686221 B1 titled "Vehicle Having A Textile Channel." It describes a vehicle with a body, an inner covering arranged in the body and a textile duct which extends between the body and the inner covering and is composed of a textile fabric, for conducting air - conditioning air, wherein the textile duct is attached to the body, characterized in that the textile duct is held on the inner covering by means of a touch - and - close fastener.

Another study is the invention described in patent application no. TR2014 / 15170 and titled “Air Channel and a Motor Vehicle Having an Air Channel.” In particular, the invention proposes an air channel arranged to deliver cooling, heating, and / or ventilation air to an interior of a motor vehicle. The air channel is characterized in that the cross - section of the main body of the air channel is at least locally surrounded by textile material.

As a result, the need for an air duct that resolves the disadvantages in the present technique and the absence of an existing solution necessitated an improvement in the relevant technical field.

Brief Description of the Invention The present invention relates to an air duct that meets the above - mentioned requirements, eliminates all disadvantages, and brings some additional advantages, provides effective and homogeneous cooling and heating of passenger compartments over the air conditioning units of trains, buses, minibuses, metro buses, and similar vehicles carrying passengers in traffic.

Based on the known state of the technique, the aim of the invention is to increase the production capacity and reduce the costs of parts and labor by ensuring that the developed air duct is made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) material supported by aluminum and textiles.

The aim of the invention is to prevent turbulence in the airflow utilizing the air routers, which are determined in a direction as a result of the temperature measurements contained in the air duct.

The aim of the invention is to increase the amount of product produced in unit time by means of the air duct being produced in packaging machines, as well as to obtain the product of the desired size.

Another aim of the invention is to eliminate the problem of air leakage by producing the air duct from flexible packaging material and to provide strength against external factors such as tearing.

Another aim of the invention is to eliminate the risks in existing systems regarding human health due to the material from which the air duct is produced.

Another aim of the invention is to ensure that the material in which the air duct is manufactured meets the necessary flammability requirements so that it can be used safely.

The structural and characteristic features and all advantages of the invention outlined in the drawings below and in the detailed description made by referring to these figures will be understood clearly; therefore, the evaluation should be made by taking these figures and detailed explanations into consideration.

Brief Description of Figures

In order to be able to understand the advantages of the present invention together with the additional elements, it is necessary to evaluate it with the figures explained below.

Figure - 1 ; schematic view of the air ducts in a disassembled state,

Figure - 2; schematic detail view of the routers on the air duct, Figure - 3; a schematic view of the placement of the air duct in the vehicle.

Reference Numbers

10. Air duct

11. Router

12. Fan

13. Right additional air outlet

14. Left additional air outlet

15. Air nozzles

16. Air hoses

K. Air conditioning unit

T. Vehicle roof

T1. Vehicle roof space

B. Connection clamp

X. Vehicle direction

H. Air

Detailed Description of the Invention

In this detailed explanation, an air duct (10) of the invention, which provides the distribution of an air (FI) throughout the vehicle by contacting the air conditioning units (K) in the vehicle roof space (T1) for the effective and homogeneous cooling and heating of the passenger compartments of trains, buses, minibuses, metro buses, and similar vehicles in the traffic according to the standards, is described only as an example for a better understanding of the subject and without any restrictive effect.

The air duct (10), shown in Figure - 1 , that distributes the air (FI), which is blown by the fans (12) and directed by the routers (11), along the direction of the vehicle (X), consists of two aluminum layers positioned at the outermost and innermost part and a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) layer positioned between these two aluminum layers, supported with textile. The said air ducts (10) are secured to the vehicle roof (T), employing the connection clamps (B) to prevent oscillation inside the vehicle. The said fans (12) press the air (FI) sucked over the cooler of the air conditioning unit (K) outside the vehicle and on the vehicle roof (T) to the air duct (10) at high speed. Each vehicle has two air ducts (10), right and left. A right additional air outlet (13) and a left additional air outlet (14) are positioned at the beginning and end of each air duct (10). The said right additional air outlets (13) are used to cool the rear window and engine section of the car, while the left additional air outlets (14) are used to cool the front door and driver's section. The routers (11) shown in Figure - 2 direct high - speed air (H) coming through the fans (12) in the direction of the air duct (10), preventing the formation of turbulence in the air duct (10). Air hoses (16) shown in Figure - 3 are positioned in connection with the air duct (10) in order to distribute the air (FI) in the air duct (10) to the side windows and to the center of the vehicle. Air nozzles (15) are located at the end of air hoses (16) connected to the air duct (10) so that cold air, which is absorbed by the air conditioning unit (K) from inside and outside the vehicle and pressed by the fans (12), is effectively directed over the passengers.

Air hoses (16) and routers (11), preferably made of rubber material, are installed in the vehicle roof space (T1) before the air duct (10) is installed on the vehicle. The parts that are ready for installation in the vehicle roof space (T1), namely air ducts (10), air hoses (16), and routers (11), are firstly mounted starting from the section under the air conditioning unit (K). Then, the air ducts (10), air hoses (16), and routers (11 ) are installed in the appropriate sections of the air nozzles (15) on the vehicle roof (T). The connection clamps (B) are used to protect the air duct (10) from the vibrations that occur while the vehicle is moving. If required, the assembly is completed by attaching additional right air outlets (13) and left additional air outlets (14) to the air duct (10).

The conditioned air (FI) coming from the air conditioning unit (K) located outside or on the roof of the vehicle (T) is directed to the air duct (10) of the invention employing fans (12) and routers (11). The said routers (11) prevent the turbulence that may occur in the air duct (10) and provide smooth flow according to principles of fluid mechanics. The air (FI) moving in the said air duct (10) is directed to the side windows and to the center of the vehicle via air nozzles (15) employing the air hoses (16) going to the sides. With this system, both a homogeneous temperature distribution is reached within the vehicle, and faster air circulation is provided.