JP3331652B2 - Heat pump type air conditioner for vehicles - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner for a vehicle in which at least heating is performed by a heat pump.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional air conditioner for a fuel-powered vehicle, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, has a cooling function in which a compressor 1 for compressing a refrigerant is driven by an engine 40 and an outdoor heat source. The refrigerant is condensed and liquefied by radiating heat to the vehicle outside air by the exchanger 2 and the outdoor heat exchanger blower 3, and the refrigerant is guided to the indoor heat exchanger 5 through the refrigerant expansion device 4, and the indoor blower The air blown by step 6 evaporates while cooling, thereby performing a cooling action.

In the heating operation, the compressor 1 is stopped, cooling water (hot water) of the engine 40 flows through the heater core 15, and the air blown by the indoor blower 6 is heated.

[0004] The temperature of the air blown out of the vehicle interior air outlets 10, 11 and 12 is adjusted by adjusting the opening of a mix damper 16 arranged in a ventilation duct 20.
This is performed by adjusting the amount of warm air flowing through the heater core and the amount of cool air that bypasses the heater core 15.

The automatic adjustment of the vehicle interior temperature is performed by the control device 25 which calculates the opening degree of the mix damper based on information from the vehicle exterior temperature sensor 21, the vehicle interior temperature sensor 22, the solar radiation sensor 23, and the set temperature input device 24. Then, the air temperature is output to the mix damper adjusting actuator 27 to adjust the temperature of the air blown out from the air outlets 10, 11, and 12 in the vehicle compartment. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, for example, the blowing amount is reduced as the difference between the vehicle interior target temperature and the vehicle interior temperature is smaller, and when the difference is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the blowing amount is minimized. Output to the blower driving device 27 so that
For example, as shown in FIG. 9, when the outside temperature is higher than a predetermined value, the switching of the introduction air is performed by introducing the air in the vehicle interior to secure the cooling capacity. Introduce.

On the other hand, a heat pump type air conditioner for driving a compressor by an electric motor, for example, an air conditioner for an electric drive vehicle is shown in FIG.
Shown in The cooling action is the same as above, but for the heating action, there is no cooling water (warm water) of the engine, so the refrigerant flow path is reversed by using a four-way switching valve 7 downstream of the compressor 1 and the indoor heat exchanger After the air blown by the indoor blower 6 is heated at 5 to condense and liquefy the refrigerant, the refrigerant is guided to the outdoor heat exchanger 2 via the refrigerant expansion device 4, where the air outside the vehicle is cooled. While the refrigerant absorbs heat and evaporates, heat pump heating is performed. Therefore, since there is no mix damper as in the above-described fuel-driven vehicle air conditioner, the blowout temperature is adjusted by controlling the motor drive unit 9 that drives the motor 8 to adjust the rotation speed of the compressor 1.
Further, switching between heating and cooling is performed by switching the refrigerant flow path using the four-way switching valve 7.

In the automatic control of the vehicle interior temperature, the controller 25 determines heating or cooling based on information from a vehicle exterior temperature sensor 21, a vehicle interior temperature sensor 22, an insolation sensor 23, and a set temperature input device 24. The four-way switching valve 7 is driven by the four-way switching valve driving device 28 to switch the refrigerant flow path. In addition, the number of rotations of the compressor 1 is calculated and output to the electric motor driving device 9 to control the cooling or heating of the air blown into the vehicle interior.

[0008] The switching of the blown air amount and the introduced air is the same as in the above-described example of the conventional air conditioner for a fuel-driven vehicle.

[0009]

In heat pump heating, in which refrigerant absorbs heat and evaporates while cooling air outside the vehicle compartment using an outdoor heat exchanger, the difference in temperature between the vehicle interior and exterior is larger than that required for cooling, and the required amount of heat is large. As a result, as the outside temperature of the vehicle decreases, the temperature approaches the boiling point of the refrigerant, and the heating efficiency decreases, so that the power consumption of the motor driving the compressor increases. In the case of an electric drive vehicle, if the power consumption of the air conditioner increases, the power consumption of the motor for driving the vehicle is reduced, which affects the driving performance. In addition, the traveling distance is reduced.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a heat pump type air conditioner for a vehicle which suppresses heating electric power.

[0011]

According to the present invention, as a first means, in order to solve the above problems, a seat heater is provided as an auxiliary heater, and the heating capacity of the seat heater during heating operation is determined by the temperature outside the vehicle compartment. A control device is provided for increasing the lower the temperature, the lower the vehicle interior target temperature is corrected while the seat heater is operating, and the vehicle interior temperature is automatically adjusted to the corrected target temperature.

According to the present invention, as a second means, in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the smaller the difference between the vehicle interior target temperature and the vehicle interior temperature, the smaller the air flow. The minimum air volume during the heating operation is made larger than the minimum air volume during the cooling operation so as to minimize the air flow.

According to the present invention, as a third means, in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the blast air is introduced from outside the vehicle compartment when the temperature outside the vehicle compartment is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, and is introduced into the air outside the vehicle compartment when the temperature is lower than the predetermined value. As the introduced air is mixed and the outside temperature of the vehicle is lower, the ratio of the introduced air from the vehicle interior is higher, and the introduced air switching device is operated such that the air ratio of the vehicle interior is limited to a predetermined value.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided, as a fourth means, an opening / closing device for opening and closing an air outlet to each part of the vehicle interior, and an occupant detection device in the vehicle interior. The opening / closing device is operated so as to open the air outlet to the location where the occupant is detected based on the detection result.

[0015]

According to the first means of the present invention, a seat heater is provided as an auxiliary heater, and a control device for increasing the heating capacity of the seat heater during the heating operation as the vehicle outside temperature is lower is provided. While the is operating, the target temperature inside the cabin is corrected low,
Automatically adjusts the cabin temperature to the corrected target temperature. The seat heater directly heats the body by heat transfer, and the vehicle interior heating discharges the heated air to the outside of the vehicle, so the seat heating requires less power than the vehicle interior heating and can provide a feeling of heating. . Therefore, while the seat heater is operating, the vehicle interior target temperature can be kept low and the power can be reduced. Also,
The lower the temperature outside the vehicle, the lower the heating efficiency in the vehicle interior. Therefore, the heating capacity of the seat heater is increased as the temperature outside the vehicle interior decreases.

According to the second means of the present invention, the smaller the difference between the vehicle interior target temperature and the vehicle interior temperature, the smaller the air flow is,
When the difference is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the air volume is minimized so that the minimum air volume during the heating operation is larger than the minimum air volume during the cooling operation. During the heating operation, if the amount of air is reduced, the refrigerant pressure increases, the compressor driving force increases, and the electric power increases. Therefore, when the vehicle interior temperature has reached the target temperature and is stable, the amount of air is increased to achieve low power.

According to the third means of the present invention, when the outside air temperature of the blown air is equal to or lower than the predetermined value, the air introduced from the vehicle interior warmed into the air introduced outside the vehicle interior is mixed, so that the heating heat can be reduced. . Also, if the ratio of air introduced from the interior of the vehicle is high, the windows are likely to become cloudy, and the lower the temperature outside the vehicle, the more heating heat is required. The lower the temperature outside the vehicle, the lower the humidity outside the vehicle and the higher the temperature of the outlet air. The effect of the defrost blowing to prevent fogging (which is performed together with the heat blowing to the heating foot) is increased. Therefore, the lower the outside temperature of the vehicle, the higher the ratio of air introduced from the vehicle interior, and the operation of the introduced air switching device is controlled such that the ratio of air in the vehicle interior is limited to a predetermined value.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an opening / closing device capable of opening and closing an air outlet to each part of the vehicle interior, and an occupant detection device in the vehicle interior, and the occupant is detected based on the detection result. The opening and closing device is operated so as to open the air outlet to the designated place. Therefore, heating is effectively performed without wasteful hot air being blown to a place where no occupant is present, and both the heating speed effect and the heating capacity are improved. Thus, heating power can be reduced.

[0019]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of a heat pump type automatic air conditioner for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. Here, the difference from the above-mentioned configuration diagram of the conventional vehicle heat pump type automatic air conditioner shown in FIG. 7 is that the embodiment of the present invention differs from the conventional example of FIG. , Passenger side heat outlet 32, driver side heat outlet 33, heat outlet switching damper 34, heat outlet switching damper actuator 35, rear heat outlet 36, rear heat outlet opening / closing damper 37, rear heat outlet opening / closing damper In that an additional actuator 38 and a seating detection device 39 are added.

The automatic adjustment of the vehicle interior temperature is performed by the control device 25 using the vehicle exterior temperature sensor 21, the vehicle interior temperature sensor 22,
Heating or cooling is determined based on information from the solar radiation sensor 23 and the set temperature input device 24, and the four-way switching valve 7 is driven by the four-way switching valve driving device 28 to switch the refrigerant flow path. In the case of heating, the four-way switching valve 7 is set as shown by the solid line in FIG. The discharged refrigerant is guided to the indoor heat exchanger 5 by the compressor 1. Next, the air blown by the indoor blower 6 is heated, the refrigerant is condensed and liquefied, carried to the outdoor heat exchanger 2 via the refrigerant expansion device 4, and blown by the outdoor heat exchanger blower 3. The air cools and evaporates. Further, the number of rotations of the compressor 1 is calculated and output to the electric motor driving device 9 to regulate the heating of the air blown into the vehicle interior.

(Claim 1) FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the relationship between the heating of the vehicle interior air and the heating of the seat for the feeling of heating. The same heating sensation as the heating sensation of only the vehicle interior air heating with zero seat heating can be obtained even if the power reduction of the vehicle interior air heating is made larger than the power increase of the seat heating. For example, the electric power to make the temperature of the vehicle interior 30 ° C. by the heat pump at the temperature of the exterior of the vehicle 0 ° C. is 1850 W. When the seat heating is operated at 100 W, the same cabin feeling is obtained at a vehicle interior temperature of 20 ° C. Therefore, since the electric power for setting the vehicle interior temperature to 20 ° C. is 800 W, the difference 950 W can be reduced.

To increase or decrease the electric power for seat heating in accordance with the temperature outside the vehicle, various methods can be used, such as increasing or decreasing the voltage applied to the seat heater, increasing or decreasing the duty, or dividing the seat heater into a plurality and increasing or decreasing the number of energized units. The method is conceivable.

(Claim 2) FIG. 4 shows an air-conditioning operation diagram of the blown air amount, electric power and vehicle interior temperature. A and B are the rotation speeds of the compressor. The rotation speed A is larger than B. At around V1 where the blowing amount is small, the refrigerant pressure increases, the compressor driving force increases, and the electric power increases. The number of rotations of the compressor that becomes the vehicle interior temperature T at the air blowing amount V1 is B, and the electric power is P1. Ventilation volume V
The rotation speed of the compressor at which the vehicle interior temperature T reaches the air temperature V when the air flow V2 is greater than 1 is A, and the electric power is P2.

Since the electric power P2 is smaller than the electric power P1, it is possible to reduce the difference between the electric power P2 and the electric power P1 by setting the air flow V2 to a large value to obtain the same vehicle interior temperature T. For example, the electric power at which the temperature inside the vehicle compartment is 0 ° C. and the temperature inside the vehicle compartment is 24 ° C. is 1500 W at an air volume of 60 cubic meters / hour. Since the power at the same vehicle interior temperature of 24 ° C. and the air flow rate of 120 cubic meters / hour is 1100 W, the difference of 400 W can be reduced. In addition, by increasing the amount of air blow, it is operated in a state where the refrigerant pressure is low, and the durability reliability is improved. Further, the protection function for stopping the compressor when the pressure rises is prevented from being operated, and the operation reliability of the air conditioning is improved. FIG. 3 shows an air-conditioning operation specification diagram of the air flow rate according to the embodiment of the present invention. The smaller the difference between the target temperature and the vehicle interior temperature is, the smaller the air flow is. If the difference is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the air flow is minimized in the same manner for cooling and heating. However, the minimum air volume for heating is larger than the minimum air volume for cooling.

(Claim 3) FIG. 5 shows an air-conditioning operation specification diagram for switching the introduced air according to an embodiment of the present invention. Outside temperature T1
From T2 to T2, the ratio of air introduced from the vehicle interior gradually increases, and below T2, the ratio is fixed. However, it can be determined in consideration of the vehicle interior temperature, the set temperature, and the amount of solar radiation. For example, when the vehicle interior temperature is high, the ratio can be reduced, when the set temperature is high, the ratio can be increased, and when the amount of solar radiation is large, the ratio can be reduced to cope with the total heat load. In addition, since the refrigerant pressure increases as the ratio increases, it is necessary to consider the refrigerant pressure in determining the ratio.

(Claim 4) In FIG. 1, during the heating operation, the heat outlet is opened by the vent / heat outlet switching damper. The heat outlet switching damper 34 opens the passenger side heat outlet 32 and / or the driver side heat outlet 33 or both. The rear heat outlet opening / closing damper 37 can open and close the rear heat outlet 36. Here, the seating detection device 39 determines the presence or absence of an occupant in each seat. The control device 25 receives the above information from the seating detection device 39. Next, the controller 25 opens the air outlet for the seat where the occupant is present, and closes the air outlet for the seat where the occupant is not present. To the actuator 38 for opening and closing the heat outlet switching damper 34 and the rear heat outlet opening / closing damper 37. For example,
When only the driver is the driver, only the driver side heat outlet 33 is opened. The vent / heat outlet switching damper can be automatically operated by an actuator.

Various arrangements, such as the arrangement, the number, and the configuration of the heat exchangers, are possible as long as the gist of the present invention is satisfied.

[0029]

According to the first means of the present invention, a seat heater is provided as an auxiliary heater, and a control device for increasing the heating capacity of the seat heater during the heating operation as the outside temperature of the vehicle is lower is provided. During operation of the heater, the vehicle interior target temperature is corrected to be low, and the vehicle interior temperature is automatically adjusted to the corrected target temperature. The seat heater directly heats the body by heat transfer, and the vehicle interior heating discharges the heated air to the outside of the vehicle, so the seat heating requires less power than the vehicle interior heating and can provide a feeling of heating. . Therefore, when the seat heater is operating,
The vehicle interior target temperature can be kept low, and the power can be reduced. Also, the lower the temperature outside the vehicle compartment, the lower the efficiency of heating the vehicle interior, so that the heating capacity of the seat heater can be increased as the temperature outside the vehicle interior decreases.

According to the second means of the present invention, the smaller the difference between the vehicle interior target temperature and the vehicle interior temperature, the smaller the air blowing amount,
When the difference is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the air volume is minimized so that the minimum air volume during the heating operation is larger than the minimum air volume during the cooling operation. During the heating operation, if the amount of air is reduced, the refrigerant pressure increases, the compressor driving force increases, and the electric power increases. Therefore, when the vehicle interior temperature has reached the target temperature and is stable, it is possible to increase the amount of air blow and reduce power consumption.

According to the third means of the present invention, when the outside air temperature of the blown air is equal to or lower than the predetermined value, the air introduced from the inside of the vehicle heated to the outside air is mixed, so that the heating heat can be reduced. . Also, if the ratio of air introduced from the interior of the vehicle is high, the windows are likely to become cloudy, and the lower the temperature outside the vehicle, the more heating heat is required. The lower the temperature outside the vehicle, the lower the humidity outside the vehicle and the higher the temperature of the outlet air. The effect of the defrost blowing to prevent fogging (which is performed together with the heat blowing to the heating foot) is increased. Therefore, the lower the outside temperature of the vehicle, the higher the ratio of the air introduced from the vehicle interior, and the operated air switching device can be operated such that the ratio of the air inside the vehicle is limited to a predetermined value.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an opening / closing device capable of opening and closing an air outlet to each part of the vehicle interior, and an occupant detection device in the vehicle interior, and the occupant is detected based on the detection result. The opening and closing device is operated so as to open the air outlet to the designated place. Therefore, heating is effectively performed without wasteful hot air being blown to a place where no occupant is present, and both the heating speed effect and the heating capacity are improved. Thus, heating power can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a heat pump air conditioner for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the relationship between the heating of the cabin air and the heating of the seat for the feeling of heating.

FIG. 3A is an air-conditioning operation characteristic diagram at the time of cooling of the air flow rate according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.

FIG. 4 is an air-conditioning operation characteristic diagram of air flow, electric power, and vehicle interior temperature.

FIG. 5 is an air-conditioning operation characteristic diagram of switching of the introduced air according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a conventional fuel-engine-driven automobile automatic air conditioner.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of a conventional vehicle heat pump type automatic air conditioner.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the air-conditioning operation characteristics of the air flow rate of the conventional automatic air-conditioning apparatus

FIG. 9 is an air-conditioning operation characteristic diagram of a conventional automatic air-conditioning apparatus for switching introduced air.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 compressor 2 outdoor heat exchanger 3 blower for outdoor heat exchanger 4 refrigerant throttle device 5 indoor heat exchanger 6 indoor blower 30 seat heater controller 31 seat heater 39 seating detector

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60H 1/00 101 B60H 1/22

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A heating capacity required for air conditioning in a vehicle interior and a target temperature in a vehicle interior are calculated based on at least environmental conditions outside the vehicle interior, environmental conditions in the vehicle interior, and occupant operation information to determine the capacity of the compressor. A heat pump air conditioner for a vehicle equipped with a control device that outputs air to a vehicle drive device, heats air blown into the vehicle interior, and automatically adjusts the vehicle interior temperature to a target temperature, includes a seat heater as an auxiliary heater. A control device is provided to increase the heating capacity of the seat heater during the heating operation as the outside temperature of the vehicle is lower. When the seat heater is operating, the calculated vehicle interior target temperature is corrected to be low, and the vehicle interior temperature is corrected. A heat pump air conditioner for a vehicle, wherein the air conditioner automatically adjusts to a set target temperature. Wherein at least the vehicle exterior environmental conditions, vehicle interior environmental conditions, based on the occupant's operation information, calculates the cooling and heating capacity and passenger compartment target temperature required for passenger compartment air conditioning, the ability of the compressor
The force is determined and output to the compressor driving device to cool or heat the air blown into the vehicle interior, and the smaller the difference between the vehicle interior target temperature and the vehicle interior temperature is, the smaller the blown air volume is. In the following, in a vehicle heat pump air conditioner equipped with a control device that automatically controls a vehicle interior temperature to a target temperature by outputting to a blower driving device so as to minimize the blowing amount, the minimum blowing amount during a heating operation is set to a cooling value. 2. The heat pump air conditioner for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the air flow is set to be larger than a minimum air flow rate during operation. 3. A compressor capacity is determined by calculating a heating capacity and a vehicle interior target temperature required for vehicle interior air conditioning based on at least vehicle exterior environment conditions, vehicle interior environment conditions, and occupant operation information. In a vehicle heat pump air conditioner equipped with a control device that outputs air to the vehicle drive device and heats the air blown into the vehicle interior to automatically adjust the vehicle interior temperature to the target temperature, the blown air has a predetermined outside air temperature. If the value is higher than the predetermined value, the air is introduced from outside the cabin.If the value is lower than the predetermined value, the air introduced from the cabin is mixed with the air introduced outside the cabin. A heat pump type air conditioner for a vehicle, comprising: a control device for operating an introduced air switching device so as to be restricted to a predetermined value.