Air conditioning systems for motor vehicles

Claim 1

For use with a motor vehicle body having a passenger compartment provided with a vertically extending front fire wall, an air-conditioning installation for the passenger compartment comprising an elongate plenum chamber extending along the outside of a part of the front fire wall of the compartment, an air inlet into the chamber, a main air outlet from the chamber in said part of the front wall, air-heater means in the passenger compartment in communication with the air outlet from the plenum chamber, subsidiary air apertures in said part of the front wall disposed in line with and on either side of the main outlet, a duct extending along said part of the front wall and open to the main outlet and subsidiary apertures, air inlets in the duct located adjacent said subsidiary apertures for introducing fresh air into the duct, air-cooler means in the duct, said air cooler means comprising air-coolers located adjacent the ends of the duct, air-blower means in the duct to draw air from the duct and discharge the air through the main outlet, and the valve means for opening and closing the subsidiary apertures and the air inlets in the duct to selectively provide a flow of fresh air through the duct into the passenger compartment and recirculation of air from the passenger compartment through the duct and back to the passenger compartment.