JP2006007928A - Air conditioner for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air conditioner for a vehicle capable of suppressing temperature rise in a cabin in a state where the air conditioner for the vehicle cannot be operated like during parking outdoor in summer time. <P>SOLUTION: The air conditioner AU for the vehicle air-conditions the air introduced by selecting either an indoor air passage 1 introducing the air inside the cabin or an outdoor air passage 2 introducing the air outside the cabin, and supplies the air in the cabin. The air conditioner AU is provided with a ventilation system 8 equipped with a bypass passage 5 which makes the distance between the indoor air passage 1 and the outdoor air passage 2 communicating state at the upstream side of an inside/outside air switching damper 3, a bypass damper 6 of the bypass passage 5, and an electric ventilation fan 7 exhausting the air sucked from the indoor air passage 1 side through the bypass passage 5 to the outdoor air passage 2 side. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle air conditioner that can suppress a temperature rise in a passenger compartment during parking in summer when the amount of solar radiation increases.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a vehicle air conditioner that provides a comfortable vehicle interior environment by cooling and heating and dehumidifying the vehicle interior is known. Such a vehicle air conditioner is a compressor that operates using a part of the output of an internal combustion engine for vehicle travel, and a condensation that condenses gas refrigerant by exchanging heat with air outside the cabin (outdoor air). And a closed circuit refrigeration cycle in which a refrigerant pipe is connected to an evaporator, an expansion valve that decompresses the liquid refrigerant, and an evaporator that exchanges heat with air introduced from outside or inside the vehicle compartment to vaporize the liquid refrigerant. ing. The evaporator described above has a function of depriving the heat of vaporization from the air, and is usually installed in a HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning) unit together with a heater core serving as a heating source for heating. It cools and dehumidifies (indoor air or outdoor air).

In addition, some conventional vehicle air conditioners determine the cleanness / contamination level of the outside air detected by the gas sensor, and automatically switch the inside / outside air switching damper to introduce only clean outside air into the vehicle interior. There has been disclosed an automatic ventilator for automobiles that can maintain a comfortable and comfortable vehicle interior environment. (For example, see Patent Document 1)
Furthermore, in order to suppress the temperature rise in the passenger compartment during parking in hot weather in summer, etc., there has been disclosed a humidification cooling type ventilator configured to blow out the outside air cooled by using the latent heat of evaporation of water into the passenger compartment. (For example, see Patent Document 2)
Furthermore, by obtaining a power source for a solar cell provided at a proper location and rotating the air circulation fan provided to introduce external air into the vehicle when the interior of the vehicle reaches a predetermined temperature or higher, There has been proposed a vehicle indoor air exhaust system configured to exhaust indoor warm air to the outside. (For example, see Patent Document 3)
JP 2000-219036 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-143988 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-49116

  Since the above-described conventional vehicle air conditioner operates using the output of the vehicle traveling internal combustion engine, it cannot perform the air conditioning operation during parking when the operation of the internal combustion engine is stopped. For this reason, if the vehicle is parked outdoors, such as in the summer, when the vehicle is exposed to strong solar radiation, the temperature in the passenger compartment rises to a high temperature, which causes a problem of worsening the feeling when riding. Furthermore, since it takes time to reduce the temperature of the passenger compartment to a comfortable temperature, there is a problem that the cool-down performance of the vehicle air conditioner is adversely affected.

From such a background, it is desired to suppress the temperature rise in the passenger compartment at the time of parking or the like where the vehicle air conditioner cannot be operated, and to improve the feeling and cool-down performance when riding.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the object of the present invention is to suppress an increase in the temperature of the passenger compartment in a situation where the vehicle air conditioner cannot be operated, such as during outdoor parking in summer. Is to provide a vehicle air conditioner.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention employs the following means.
The vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention selects the air introduced by selecting one of the indoor air flow path for introducing the air inside the vehicle interior and the outdoor air flow path for introducing the air outside the vehicle interior by operating the flow path switching means. In a vehicle air conditioner that air-conditions and supplies the vehicle interior,
A bypass flow path that establishes communication between the indoor air flow path and the outdoor air flow path on the upstream side of the flow path switching means, flow path opening / closing means of the bypass flow path, and the bypass flow path through the bypass flow path A ventilating device is provided that includes an electric blower that discharges air sucked from the indoor air flow path side to the outdoor air flow path side.
In this case, the ventilation device may be operated manually by a manual switch, or the detection value of the temperature sensor for detecting the passenger compartment temperature, the detection value of the temperature sensor for detecting the outside air temperature, and the amount of solar radiation for detecting the amount of solar radiation. You may make it start a driving | operation automatically based on the detected value etc. of a sensor.

  According to such a vehicle air conditioner, a bypass flow path that establishes communication between the indoor air flow path and the outdoor air flow path on the upstream side of the flow path switching means, and the flow path opening / closing means of the bypass flow path; The ventilator is provided with an electric blower that discharges the air sucked from the indoor air channel through the bypass channel to the outdoor air channel. When the air blowing means is operated, the air in the passenger compartment is sucked into the bypass passage from the indoor air passage, and further discharged from the bypass passage through the outdoor air passage to the outside of the passenger compartment. That is, even when the internal combustion engine for running the vehicle is stopped, by operating the electric air blowing means, the high-temperature indoor air can be discharged outside the vehicle compartment, and the temperature rise can be suppressed by ventilating the vehicle interior.

In the above vehicle air conditioner, the flow path opening / closing means opens and closes integrally with the flow path switching means, and the flow path opening / closing means closes the outdoor air flow path when the switching flow path means closes the outdoor air flow path. It is preferable that the bypass flow path be closed, whereby the flow path opening / closing means and the flow path switching means are opened / closed by a single drive source, and when the bypass flow path is open, the indoor air flow path is the bypass flow path. It communicates with outside air outside the passenger compartment.
In this case, a butterfly damper or a rotary damper can be employed as the channel opening / closing means.

  In the above vehicle air conditioner, the rotational speed of the air blowing means is preferably variable according to various conditions, which enables energy-saving operation while minimizing power consumption of the electrically powered air blowing means. It becomes. Note that a solar cell is preferably provided as a power source in this case.

  According to the vehicle air conditioner of the present invention described above, the ventilator provided with the channel opening / closing means and the electric air blowing means is provided in the bypass channel that establishes communication between the indoor air channel and the outdoor air channel. If the electric air blowing means is operated by opening the flow path opening / closing means by the operation of the ventilation device, the air in the vehicle compartment is sucked from the indoor air passage to the bypass flow passage, and further from the bypass flow passage through the outdoor air flow passage It is discharged outside the passenger compartment. For this reason, even when the internal combustion engine for running the vehicle is stopped, by operating the electric air blowing means, it is possible to discharge hot indoor air to the outside of the vehicle interior and ventilate the vehicle interior to suppress the temperature rise. Therefore, for example, even if the vehicle is parked outdoors under a hot summer sun and receives strong solar radiation, it is possible to ventilate the hot air in the passenger compartment and minimize the temperature rise in the passenger compartment. Accordingly, the temperature rise in the passenger compartment during parking can be suppressed even in the summertime when the solar radiation is strong, and it becomes possible to minimize the feeling reduction during boarding and to improve the cool-down performance of the air conditioning.

  In addition, if the ventilator is operated during the heating operation with outside air introduced, indoor air having a temperature higher than that of the outdoor air can be introduced and mixed. Heating and heating are possible. Similarly, during cooling operation with outdoor air introduction, it is possible to introduce and mix indoor air having a temperature lower than that of outdoor air. It becomes possible to cool. That is, the air-conditioning load can be reduced by air-conditioning by adding room air during the air-conditioning operation for introducing outside air, compared to the air-conditioning operation only for introducing outside air.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
The vehicle air conditioner AU shown in FIG. 1 air-conditions the blower unit 10 that selects and introduces air in the vehicle interior (room air) or air outside the vehicle interior (outdoor air), and the introduced air supplied from the blower unit 10. Thus, the HVAC unit 20 that supplies the vehicle interior from the desired outlet is integrally connected. The HVAC unit 20 is an HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning) unit.

The blower unit 10 includes an indoor air channel 1 for introducing indoor air or an outdoor air channel 2 for introducing outdoor air. Either the indoor air channel 1 or the outdoor air channel 2 is selected by operating the inside / outside air switching damper 3 of the channel switching means. That is, the inside / outside air switching damper 3 shown in FIG. 1A is in a damper position where the outdoor air flow path 2 is closed and the room air is introduced from the indoor air flow path 1, and the inside / outside air switching damper 3 shown in FIG. Is in a damper position where the indoor air flow path 1 is closed and outdoor air is introduced from the outdoor air flow path 2.
A blower fan 4 driven by an electric motor 4a is provided on the downstream side of the inside / outside air switching damper 3. This blower fan 4 sends out indoor air or outdoor air introduced from the indoor air flow path 1 or the outdoor air flow path 2 to the HVAC unit 20 connected downstream. In the following description, indoor air and outdoor air delivered from the blower fan 4 are collectively referred to as “introduction air”.

The HVAC unit 20 connected to the downstream side of the blower unit 10 includes two heat exchangers of an evaporator 21 and a heater core 22 arranged in order from the upstream side in the casing 20a.
The upstream-side evaporator 21 is connected to a refrigerant system (not shown), and has a function of cooling the introduction air by depriving the liquid refrigerant of heat of vaporization by exchanging heat between the liquid refrigerant and the introduction air. is doing. The downstream heater core 22 heats the introduced air by introducing a part of the hot water from the cooling water system of the vehicle running internal combustion engine as a heating source and exchanging heat between the hot water and the introduced air. It has a function to raise the temperature.

The casing 20a of the HVAC unit 20 is provided with three types of air outlets for supplying introduced air (hereinafter referred to as “air-conditioned air”) that has been cooled and heated to be air-conditioned into the vehicle interior. That is, a defroster outlet 23 that removes fogging of the windshield and the like, a face outlet 24 that opens to the front of the instrument panel in the passenger compartment, and a foot outlet 25 that opens to the feet of the occupant are provided.
An air mix damper 26 is disposed on the upstream side of the heater core 22 so that the amount of introduced air that passes through the heater core 22 and is heated can be adjusted. Note that dampers 27 and 28 are provided at appropriate positions in the casing 21a in order to selectively open and close the above-described defrost outlet 23, face outlet 24 and foot outlet 25 to allow air-conditioning air to be blown out. .

  Furthermore, the vehicle air conditioner AU includes a control unit 30 that performs various controls of the air conditioning operation. A power source 31 is connected to the control unit 30 and at least a vehicle interior temperature sensor 32, an outside air temperature sensor 33, and a solar radiation amount sensor 34 are connected, and a detection value is input from each sensor. ing.

  The above-described blower unit 10 of the vehicle air conditioner AU includes a bypass channel 5 that establishes communication between the indoor air channel 1 and the outdoor air channel 2 on the upstream side of the inside / outside air switching damper 3, and the bypass channel 5. A bypass damper 6 serving as a flow path opening / closing means, and an electric ventilation fan (air blowing means) 7 for discharging indoor air (air) sucked from the indoor air flow path 1 side via the bypass flow path 5 to the outdoor air flow path 2 side. A ventilation device 8 is provided. The ventilation fan 7 is connected to the control unit 30 and receives power from the control unit 30 and is controlled to be turned on and off.

The ventilation fan 7 in this case is a double-suction type installed so that the suction port opens into the indoor air flow path 1 so that the cross-sectional area of the bypass flow path 5 through which the indoor air flows can be set small. It is preferable to employ a centrifugal fan. However, the type of the ventilation fan 7 is not particularly limited, such as an axial fan.
That is, in order to form the bypass flow path 5 that secures the minimum necessary cross-sectional area necessary for smooth ventilation in consideration of the limited installation space of the vehicle air conditioner AU that can be secured in the vehicle. It is desirable to employ a double-suction centrifugal fan with less fan-side restrictions such as installation space.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the bypass damper 6 that opens and closes the bypass flow path 5 is preferably one that opens and closes together with the inside / outside air switching damper 3 so that the drive source can be shared. The inside / outside air switching damper 3 and the bypass damper 6 in this case are butterfly dampers that are configured to bend and open together by bending a plate-like member. That is, a portion where one end of the plate-like inside / outside air switching damper 3 is bent at a substantially right angle is the bypass damper 6, and the channel switching (opening / closing) operation is performed using the bent portion (corner) as a fulcrum. The blower unit 10 is supported at an appropriate position. By this flow path switching operation, when the inside / outside air switching damper 3 closes the outdoor air flow path 2, the outlet side of the bypass flow path 5 is also closed by the bypass damper 6 (see FIG. 1A). ing.
On the other hand, in the outdoor air introduction mode in which the inside / outside air switching damper 3 closes the indoor air flow path 1, the bypass damper 6 opens the bypass flow path 5 as shown in FIG.

  By operating the ventilation device 8 configured as described above, the indoor air can be exhausted to the outside of the passenger compartment and ventilated while the internal combustion engine serving as the travel drive source of the vehicle is stopped. As shown in FIG. 1 (b), such ventilation operation is performed when the inside / outside air switching damper 3 closes the indoor air flow path 1 and the bypass damper 6 opens the outlet side of the bypass flow path 5. This is implemented by driving 7. Note that, during such a ventilation operation, the other components of the vehicle air conditioner AU except the ventilation device 8 and the control unit 30 such as the blower fan 4 are stopped.

  By carrying out such a ventilation operation, the indoor air in the passenger compartment is sucked into the ventilation fan 7 through the indoor air flow path 1 as shown by an arrow a in the figure, and passes through the bypass flow path 5 to the outdoor. It flows out to the air flow path 2. Since this outdoor air flow path 2 communicates with the outside air, the indoor air sucked into the ventilation fan 7 is exhausted from the opening of the indoor air flow path 2 (the opening that introduces the outdoor air outside the ventilation operation) to the outside of the vehicle. . For this reason, since the indoor air whose temperature rose due to the influence of solar radiation is exhausted to the outside of the vehicle, it is possible to suppress an increase in the temperature of the vehicle interior during parking. Therefore, even in the case of boarding after parking in the summer, the temperature rise in the passenger compartment is suppressed to improve the feeling during boarding, and further, the cool-down time due to the start of air conditioning (cooling) operation Since it is shortened, the adverse effect on the cool-down performance can be improved.

Further, if the ventilator 8 is operated during the heating operation in which the outside air is introduced, the outdoor air introduced from the outdoor air flow path 2 can be introduced and mixed with the outdoor air having a temperature higher than that of the outdoor air. It is possible to heat and heat the introduced air whose temperature has been increased compared to the air alone. For this reason, since the air conditioning load of the heating operation is reduced, there is an advantage that the time required for the passenger compartment to rise to a desired temperature is shortened.
Similarly, during cooling operation with outdoor air introduction, it is possible to introduce and mix indoor air having a temperature lower than that of outdoor air. It becomes possible to cool.
That is, the air conditioning load can be reduced by performing the air conditioning by adding the indoor air introduced by the ventilator 8 during the air conditioning operation for introducing the outside air to the outdoor air as compared with the case of performing the air conditioning operation only by introducing the outside air.

By the way, the above-described operation of the ventilation device 8 may be a manual operation in which a manual switch (not shown) is operated if necessary, or the detected value of the vehicle interior temperature sensor 32 for detecting the vehicle interior temperature, the outside air temperature. Based on the detected value of the detected outside air temperature sensor 33 and the detected value of the solar radiation amount sensor 34 for detecting the amount of solar radiation, the operation is automatically started when a temperature or solar radiation amount exceeding a predetermined value is detected. Also good.
For such automatic driving, any one of the vehicle interior temperature sensor 32, the outside air temperature sensor 33, and the solar radiation amount sensor 34 may be selected to determine the start of driving. However, since these sensors are also necessary for other control of the vehicle air conditioner AU, the normal vehicle air conditioner AU includes all the sensors, and therefore the detected values detected by the sensors. The operation may be started when any one of the conditions satisfies the condition.

  The ventilation fan 7 is relatively small and consumes less power, but its air volume (that is, the operating rotational speed) can be varied in multiple stages or steplessly depending on various conditions such as temperature and solar radiation. It is preferable to perform the energy saving operation while suppressing the power held by the power source 31 such as a battery to the minimum necessary so as not to be wasted. It should be noted that a solar system such as a solar cell that is effective in a large amount of solar radiation is provided at an appropriate position on the vehicle body, and the power obtained thereby is used as a power source, or the power source 31 is charged. Also good.

A specific example of variable operation of the ventilation fan 7 will be described. For example, in the control map shown in FIG. 2, control is performed in three stages of Hi, Lo, and OFF according to the vehicle interior temperature detected by the vehicle interior temperature sensor 32. In the control map of FIG. 2, when the vehicle interior temperature rises to 30 ° C., the operation shifts from OFF to “Lo” where the vehicle is operated at a low speed with a small air volume. Then, when the in-vehicle temperature further rises and reaches 40 ° C., the operation shifts to Hi that operates at a high speed rotation in which the air volume increases. On the contrary, when the in-vehicle temperature decreases, a hysteresis is provided so that the temperature shifts from Hi to Lo at 30 ° C. and is turned off at 20 ° C.
Note that the outside air temperature can be controlled in substantially the same manner, although there are differences in the numerical values of the in-vehicle temperature and the set temperature.

The control map shown in FIG. 3 shows an example of operation control of the ventilation fan 7 based on the amount of solar radiation. In this case, when the amount of solar radiation increases, the control shifts from OFF to Lo at 600 W / m ² and 800 W / m. ² is controlled to shift from Lo to Hi, and when the amount of solar radiation decreases, the hysteresis shifts from Hi to Lo at 600 W / m ² and from Lo to OFF at 400 W / m ^2. Is provided.
The numerical values of the in-vehicle temperature and the amount of solar radiation shown in the both control maps described above are merely examples, and can be appropriately changed according to various conditions including the number of control stages.

Next, a modified example of the above-described bypass damper 6 of the channel opening / closing means will be described with reference to FIG. The bypass damper 6 ′ of the flow path opening / closing means shown in this modification is configured to open and close integrally with the inside / outside air switching damper 3 ′ adopting a rotary damper having a shape different from that of the butterfly damper. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the part similar to embodiment mentioned above, and the detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.
The bypass damper 6 'is a plate-like member provided so that the inside / outside air switching damper 3' having a fan-shaped cross section is a damper body and protrudes from the tip thereof. The inside / outside air switching damper 3 ′ is supported so as to perform a switching (opening / closing) operation of the flow path by swinging with the main part of the fan as a fulcrum. In addition, the code | symbol 3a in a figure is a stopper provided with the sealing function.

The inside / outside air switching damper 3 ′ and the bypass damper 6 ′ configured as described above perform the indoor air / outdoor air introduction switching and the opening / closing operation of the bypass flow path 5 as described below.
In the indoor air introduction mode shown in FIG. 4A, the inside / outside air switching damper 3 ′ closes the outdoor air channel 2 and opens the indoor air channel 1, and the bypass damper 6 ′ closes the inlet side of the bypass channel 5. Closed. Accordingly, room air is introduced into the blower fan 4 and the HVAC unit 20 on the downstream side. That is, FIG. 4A shows the inside / outside air switching damper position in a state where the ventilation operation is not performed.

On the other hand, in the outdoor air introduction mode shown in FIG. 4B, the inside / outside air switching damper 3 ′ closes the indoor air flow path 1 and opens the outdoor air flow path 2, and the bypass damper 6 ′ opens the bypass flow path 5. State. When the operation of the blower fan 4 is stopped in this state and the ventilation fan 7 is operated, the room air is sucked from the room air passage 1 communicating with the vehicle interior and passes through the ventilation fan 7. Since this room air further flows out to the outdoor air flow path 2 through the bypass flow path 5, it is discharged from the outdoor air flow path 2 to the outside of the vehicle. That is, FIG. 4B shows the inside / outside air switching damper position in a state where the ventilation operation is performed.
The bypass damper 6 'having such a configuration can also share a drive source for opening and closing the inside / outside air switching damper 3'.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, the bypass damper 6 can be opened and closed alone, or the configuration of the HVAC unit 20 is not limited to the illustrated configuration example. It can change suitably within the range which does not.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a block diagram which shows one Embodiment of the vehicle air conditioner which concerns on this invention, (a) shows the inside / outside air switching damper position in the state where ventilation operation is not performed, (b) is ventilation operation performed The inside / outside air switching damper position is shown. It is an example of the control map which makes a ventilation fan variable, and has shown the relationship between vehicle interior temperature and a ventilation fan air volume. It is an example of the control map which makes a ventilation fan variable, and has shown the relationship between solar radiation amount and ventilation fan air volume. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a modification of the flow path switching means and the flow path opening / closing means according to the present invention, where (a) shows the inside / outside air switching damper position when ventilation operation is not performed, and (b) shows that ventilation operation is performed. The inside / outside air switching damper position in a broken state is shown.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Indoor air flow path 2 Outdoor air flow path 3, 3 'Inside / outside air switching damper (flow path switching means)
4 Blower fan 5 Bypass flow path 6, 6 'Bypass damper (flow path opening / closing means)
7 Ventilation fan (air blowing means)
8 Ventilator 10 Blower unit 20 HVAC unit 21 Evaporator 22 Heater core 30 Control unit 31 Power supply 32 Car interior temperature sensor 33 Outside air temperature sensor 34 Solar radiation amount sensor

Claims (3)

For vehicles that supply air to the vehicle interior by selecting either the indoor air flow path for introducing the air in the vehicle interior or the outdoor air flow path for introducing the air outside the vehicle interior by operating the flow path switching means. In the air conditioner,
A bypass flow path that establishes communication between the indoor air flow path and the outdoor air flow path on the upstream side of the flow path switching means, flow path opening / closing means of the bypass flow path, and the bypass flow path through the bypass flow path An air conditioner for a vehicle comprising: a ventilator including an electric air blowing means for discharging air sucked from an indoor air flow path side to the outdoor air flow path side.   The flow path opening / closing means is configured to open and close integrally with the flow path switching means, and the bypass flow path closing means closes the bypass flow path when the switching flow path means closes the outdoor air flow path. The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1.   The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the rotational speed of the blower means is variable according to various conditions.

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