DE102016000316B4 - Air conditioning for a vehicle and vehicle with such an air conditioning system - Google Patents

Abstract

Air conditioning system (10) for a vehicle, comprising a refrigerant circuit (2.1) with an indirect evaporator (2.2), a refrigerant compressor (2.3), an indirect refrigerant condenser (2.4) and an expansion element (2.5), the indirect evaporator (2.2), the refrigerant compressor (2.3), the indirect refrigerant condenser (2.4) and the expansion element (2.5) form a structural cold and heat generation unit (2) with a cuboid contour for generating hot or cold coolant, - a first coolant circuit (K1) with an ambient - heat exchanger (4), - a second coolant circuit (K2) with a heating heat exchanger (5.1) and a coolant pump (8), - a third coolant circuit (K3) with a cooling heat exchanger (5.2) and a coolant pump (9), - a fourth coolant circuit (K4) with a cooling heat exchanger (6) thermally coupled to a vehicle drive (M), and - a multi-way valve (3) designed as a rotary valve for selectively fluidly connecting the first, second and third coolant circuits (K1, K2, K3) with the cold and heat generation unit (2), wherein - the fourth coolant circuit (K4) is fluidly connected to the multi-way valve (3), - the multi-way valve (3) together with the cold and heat generation unit (2) to form a compact Heat distribution unit (1) are arranged in direct proximity to one another and whose longitudinal directions run parallel to one another, and - the two coolant pumps (8, 9) are arranged directly adjacent to the cold and heat generation unit (2) and / or to the multi-way valve (3).

Description

The invention relates to an air conditioning system for a vehicle. The invention further relates to a vehicle with such an air conditioning system.

Vehicle air conditioning systems are known from the prior art and are used to supply the interior or the passenger compartment of a vehicle with a supply air flow at a predetermined temperature.

Such air conditioning systems include a refrigerant circuit, which essentially consists of a compressor, valves and various direct refrigerant-air and indirect refrigerant-water heat exchangers on the high and low pressure sides as well as a refrigerant collector. These components of the refrigerant circuit are distributed depending on the available installation space in the front of the vehicle. The consumers are connected via lines from the refrigerant circuit or a secondary circuit (usually a water-glysantine mixture). Various changeover and shut-off valves are installed in the circuits to change the operating states.

Due to the large number of lines as well as shut-off and switching valves, both the refrigerant circuit and the coolant circuits can become very complex. This has the particular disadvantage that, depending on the respective connection status, there is a non-negligible amount of refrigerant in unused branches. Due to compliance with bending radii, a relatively large amount of installation space is required. Furthermore, filling the refrigeration circuit and checking for leaks is a complex process. The production time spent on this and the installation causes high costs in production.

From the international publications WO 2015/115049 A1 ( DE 11 2015 000 553 T5 ) and WO 2015/107582 A1 ( DE 11 2014 006 161 T5 ) an air conditioning system for vehicles is known which has a refrigerant circuit with a refrigerant compressor, an indirect refrigerant condenser, an indirect evaporator and an expansion element assigned to the same, a coolant circuit with an ambient heat exchanger and further coolant circuits with a heating heat exchanger arranged in an air conditioning device and a cooling Heat exchanger. The coolant circuits can be connected to the indirect refrigerant condenser and the indirect evaporator in different circuit variants via two multi-way valves.

Also from the DE 10 2011 082 584 A1 a refrigerant circuit for temperature control of a plurality of components of a vehicle is known. This refrigerant circuit includes a refrigerant compressor, an indirect refrigerant condenser and an indirect cooler with an associated expansion element. The indirect refrigerant condenser and the indirect cooler can be connected in different circuit variants to the components to be tempered, namely an air conditioning device for air conditioning a vehicle cabin of the vehicle, a battery of the vehicle and a low-temperature cooler of the vehicle, via multi-way valves.

A rotary valve designed as a multi-way valve is from the DE 10 2008 060 698 A1 known. This known rotary valve comprises a valve body which can be rotated in a hollow cylindrical valve housing and has an axis of rotation, with through channels arranged around the axis of rotation and extending in the axial direction being provided in the valve body, which end on the front side of this valve body on a control disk with inlets connected in a rotationally fixed manner to the valve housing. These inlets of the control disk correspond to the through channels, so that when the valve body rotates, the individual through channels alternately align with the various axially aligned inlets of the control disk. Processes running parallel to the axis of rotation are arranged in the valve housing, the number of which corresponds to the through-channels. In the axial direction of the valve body, it has annular chambers that are separated from one another in a fluid-tight manner, each of which has a radially directed bore and is each connected to one of the axial through channels. Furthermore, each of these radially directed bores is aligned with a drain in the valve housing.

It is the object of the invention to provide an air conditioning system for a vehicle in which the amount of refrigerant is significantly reduced compared to the prior art. In addition, such an air conditioning system is intended to reduce production time and simplify filling and maintenance. It is also an object of the invention to provide a vehicle with such an air conditioning system.

This task is solved by an air conditioning system with the features of patent claim 1 and by a vehicle with the features of patent claim 2.

• - einen Kältemittelkreislauf mit einem indirekten Verdampfer, einem Kältemittelverdichter, einem indirekten Kältemittelkondensator und einem Expansionsorgan, wobei der indirekte Verdampfer, der Kältemittelverdichter, der indirekte Kältemittelkondensator und das Expansionsorgan eine konstruktive Kälte- und Wärmeerzeugungseinheit mit einer quaderförmigen Kontur zur Erzeugung von heißem oder kaltem Kühlmittel bilden,
• - einen ersten Kühlmittelkreislauf mit einem Umgebungs-Wärmeübertrager,
• - einen zweiten Kühlmittelkreislauf mit einem Heizungs-Wärmeübertrager und einer Kühlmittelpumpe,
• - einen dritten Kühlmittelkreislauf mit einem Kühlungs-Wärmeübertrager und einer Kühlmittelpumpe,
• - einen vierten Kühlmittelkreislauf mit einem thermisch mit einem Fahrzeugantrieb gekoppelten Kühlungs-Wärmeübertrager, und
• - ein als Rotationsventil ausgeführtes Mehrwegeventil zum wahlweisen fluidleitenden Verbinden des ersten, zweiten und dritten Kühlmittelkreislaufs mit der Kälte- oder Wärmeerzeugungseinheit, wobei
• - der vierte Kühlmittelkreislauf mit dem Mehrwegeventil fluidleitend verbunden ist, und
• - das Mehrwegeventil zusammen mit der Kälte- oder Wärmeerzeugungseinheit zur Bildung einer kompakten Wärmeverteilungseinheit in direkter Nachbarschaft zueinander angeordnet sind und deren Längsrichtungen parallel zueinander verlaufen.

Such an air conditioner for a vehicle includes:

• - a refrigerant circuit with an indirect evaporator, a refrigerant compressor, an indirect refrigerant condenser and a Expansion element, wherein the indirect evaporator, the refrigerant compressor, the indirect refrigerant condenser and the expansion element form a constructive cold and heat generating unit with a cuboid contour for generating hot or cold coolant,
• - a first coolant circuit with an ambient heat exchanger,
• - a second coolant circuit with a heating heat exchanger and a coolant pump,
• - a third coolant circuit with a cooling heat exchanger and a coolant pump,
• - a fourth coolant circuit with a cooling heat exchanger thermally coupled to a vehicle drive, and
• - a multi-way valve designed as a rotary valve for selectively fluidly connecting the first, second and third coolant circuits to the cold or heat generation unit, wherein
• - the fourth coolant circuit is fluidly connected to the multi-way valve, and
• - the multi-way valve together with the cold or heat generation unit are arranged in direct proximity to one another to form a compact heat distribution unit and the longitudinal directions of which run parallel to one another.

The air conditioning system according to the invention therefore consists of a compact heat distribution unit with two compact units, namely a heat generation unit for generating hot or cold coolant and a multi-way valve for distributing the coolant flows. With this multi-way valve, which is also designed as a compact unit, various connection states are implemented.

With such a compact heat distribution unit, the amount of refrigerant can be significantly reduced compared to conventional systems. In addition, the refrigerant circuit implemented with the cold and heat generation unit can be hermetically encapsulated, which significantly increases the tightness in various scenarios, for example in a crash. The fact that the components of the coolant circuits are only connected to the multi-way valve through coolant-carrying, for example water-carrying, flow and return lines simplifies integration in the vehicle, and in particular no refrigerant has to be fed to the ambient heat exchanger and the interior of the vehicle.

A further advantage of the heat distribution unit according to the invention is that its compact units are easy to install, thereby reducing production time and saving components, such as fluid lines. At the same time, filling with refrigerant and maintaining the air conditioning system as a system are simplified.

Since the two coolant pumps of the second and third coolant circuits are arranged directly adjacent to the cold and heat generation unit and/or the multi-way valve, these coolant pumps of the second and third coolant circuits are also integrated into the heat distribution unit according to the invention in an optimal installation space.

According to the invention, the air conditioning system has a fourth coolant circuit with a cooling heat exchanger that is thermally coupled to a vehicle drive and is fluidly connected to the multi-way valve. This means that heat pump operation can be implemented in a structurally simple manner using the waste heat from the drive component of the vehicle, such as an electric drive or an internal combustion engine.

The air conditioning system according to the invention can be used in all types of vehicles, especially in conventional or electrified vehicles.

• 1 ein Schaltbild einer Fahrzeugklimaanlage mit einer Wärmeverteilungseinheit,
• 2 eine schematische Darstellung einer Kälte- und Wärmeerzeugungseinheit und eines Mehrwegeventils der Wärmeverteilungseinheit nach 1, und
• 3 eine schematische Darstellung der in einem Fahrzeug verbauten Wärmeverteilungseinheit gemäß den 1 und 2.

The invention is described in detail below using an exemplary embodiment with reference to the attached figures. Show it:

• 1 a circuit diagram of a vehicle air conditioning system with a heat distribution unit,
• 2 a schematic representation of a cold and heat generation unit and a multi-way valve of the heat distribution unit 1 , and
• 3 a schematic representation of the heat distribution unit installed in a vehicle according to 1 and 2 .

The 1 shows an air conditioning system 10 of a vehicle with a cold and heat generation unit 2 for generating hot or cold coolant, a multi-way valve 3 fluidly connected to the cold and heat generation unit 2, which is fluidly connected to consumers for distributing coolant. These consumers are, on the one hand, an ambient heat exchanger 4 with a fan 4.1 (also called a cooler) as the front end of the front of the vehicle to form a first coolant circuit K1 and an air conditioning unit 5. This air conditioning unit 5 includes a Heating heat exchanger 5.1 to form a second coolant circuit K2 and a cooling heat exchanger 5.2 to form a third coolant circuit K3, each of which is fluidly connected to the multi-way valve 3. Furthermore, the air conditioning device 5 has an air flap 5.3, with which, for example, an air flow L1 supplied to the air conditioning device 5 after cooling on the cooling heat exchanger 5.2 can at least partially also be guided past the heating heat exchanger 5.1 for heating, in order not to then be used with it heated air flow to be directed into the vehicle interior as supply air flow L2.

A fourth coolant circuit K4 is also connected to the multi-way valve 3, which is formed by a cooling heat exchanger 6 which is thermally connected to a drive M of the vehicle. The electrical energy for the electrically operated components is provided by an energy storage device 7.

The cold and heat generation unit 2 is constructed as a refrigerant circuit 2.1 with an indirect evaporator 2.2, a refrigerant compressor 2.3, an indirect condenser 2.4 and an expansion element 2.5, the indirect condenser 2.4 and the indirect evaporator 2.5 being a refrigerant-coolant heat exchanger in the manner of Plate heat exchangers are designed. These components are structurally combined into a compact unit that has a cuboid contour. Like from the 1 to 3 As can be seen, the components of indirect evaporator 2.2, refrigerant compressor 2.3 and the indirect condenser 2.4 are installed one behind the other in the order listed and thus result in an extremely compact design. Due to this compact design of the cold and heat generation unit 2, the amount of refrigerant can be significantly reduced compared to conventional systems. In addition, the refrigerant circuit 2.1 implemented in the cold and heat generation unit 2 can be hermetically encapsulated, which allows the tightness to be significantly increased in various scenarios, such as in the event of a crash. Finally, there are no valves in the refrigerant circuit 2.1, apart from the expansion valve 2.5.

In an equally compact design, the multi-way valve 3 is designed as a rotary valve, for example as described at the beginning DE 10 2008 060 698 A1 is known.

The compact cold and heat generation unit 2, together with the equally compact multi-way valve 3, forms a compact heat distribution unit 1, like this 3 is visible. For this purpose, these compact units, the cold and heat generation unit 2 and the multi-way valve 3 are arranged in direct proximity to one another, so that the longitudinal directions of these units run parallel to one another. Furthermore, coolant pumps 8 and 9 of the second and third coolant circuits K2 and K3 are structurally integrated into the arrangement of the cold and heat generation unit 2 and the multi-way valve 3, so that they are arranged directly adjacent to the cold and heat generation unit 2 and to the multi-way valve 3.

The 3 shows a perspective arrangement for the front of the vehicle with such a heat distribution unit 1, which is arranged behind the air conditioning unit 5 when viewed in the direction of travel, so that only longer connecting lines to the ambient heat exchanger 4 are required, while the fluid connections into the air conditioning unit 5 are kept short can.

The integration of such a heat distribution unit 1 is significantly simplified, since the fluid connection between the cold and heat generation unit 2 and the multi-way valve 3 as well as the fluid connections for the components to be connected to the multi-way valve 3 are only implemented via water-carrying supply and return lines. In particular, advantageously no refrigerant is passed through the front end and the interior of the vehicle. In addition, the cold and heat generation unit 2 and multi-way valve 3, which are designed as compact modules, are easy to install, which reduces production time and saves on components. Finally, filling and maintaining the air conditioning system 10 are simplified.

In order to be able to operate the air conditioning system 10 in both a heating and cooling function, the functions of the heat exchangers 4, 5.1 and 5.2 on the coolant side are swapped using the multi-way valve 3.

Reference symbols

1

Heat distribution unit

2

Cooling and heating unit

2.1

Refrigerant circulation

2.2

indirect evaporator of the refrigerant circuit 2.1

2.3

Refrigerant compressor of the refrigerant circuit 2.1

2.4

indirect condenser of the refrigerant circuit 2.1

2.5

Expansion element of the refrigerant circuit 2.1

3

Multi-way valve

4

Ambient heat exchanger

4.1

fan

5

Air conditioning unit

5.1

Heating heat exchanger

5.2

Cooling heat exchanger

5.3

Air flap

6

Cooling heat exchanger

7

Energy storage, battery

8th

coolant pump

9

Coolant pump

10

Air conditioning of a vehicle

K1

first coolant circuit

K2

second coolant circuit

K3

third coolant circuit

K4

fourth coolant circuit

L1

Airflow

L2

supply air flow

M

Drive of the vehicle

Claims (2)

Air conditioning system (10) for a vehicle, comprising - a refrigerant circuit (2.1) with an indirect evaporator (2.2), a refrigerant compressor (2.3), an indirect refrigerant condenser (2.4) and an expansion element (2.5), the indirect evaporator (2.2), the refrigerant compressor (2.3), the indirect refrigerant condenser (2.4) and the expansion element (2.5) form a structural cold and heat generation unit (2) with a cuboid contour for generating hot or cold coolant, - a first coolant circuit (K1) with an ambient heat exchanger (4), - a second coolant circuit (K2) with a heating heat exchanger (5.1) and a coolant pump (8), - a third coolant circuit (K3) with a cooling heat exchanger (5.2) and a coolant pump (9), - a fourth coolant circuit (K4) with a cooling heat exchanger (6) thermally coupled to a vehicle drive (M), and - a multi-way valve (3) designed as a rotary valve for selectively fluidly connecting the first, second and third coolant circuits (K1, K2, K3) to the cold and heat generation unit (2), wherein - the fourth coolant circuit (K4) is connected to the multi-way valve (3) in a fluid-conducting manner, - the multi-way valve (3) together with the cold and heat generation unit (2) are arranged in direct proximity to one another to form a compact heat distribution unit (1) and the longitudinal directions of which run parallel to one another, and - The two coolant pumps (8, 9) are arranged directly adjacent to the cold and heat generation unit (2) and/or the multi-way valve (3). Vehicle with air conditioning (10). Claim 1 .

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