FR2875440A1 - Ventilating, heating or air conditioning installation`s door controlling device for motor vehicle, has actuators with control circuits receiving set values based on actuator movement values stored in storage units of interface circuits - Google Patents

Abstract

The device has interface circuits (38A-38E) connected to an outlet (32U) of a control panel (32) of a ventilating, heating or air-conditioning installation to receive a control signal related to opening/closing of doors for finding set values. Electric actuators (34A-34E) have control circuits (36A-36E) receiving the values based on actuator movement values stored in storage units (40A-40E) of circuits (38A-38E) to control the doors. An independent claim is also included for a ventilating, heating and/or air-conditioning installation of a cab interior of a motor vehicle.

Description

2875440 1

  Title of the invention Control shutters of an air conditioning system.

  BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the control of the shutters of a ventilation, heating and / or air conditioning system of the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle.

  In the traditional way, as illustrated in FIG. 2, a ventilation, heating and / or air-conditioning installation of a motor vehicle comprises a housing 10 delimiting an air channel or duct 12 that brings the air to be treated to mouths. exit opening in the cockpit. The distribution of this air is effected according to the position of controlled flaps, a controlled flap 14 controlling a defogging / defrosting outlet, another 16 a first venting outlet in the dashboard and a third 18 a second exhaust. ventilation at the level of the feet of the first-line occupants of the motor vehicle. The flow rate of the air passing through the channel is produced by a motor-fan or blower unit 20 receiving outside air or recirculation air from the passenger compartment according to the position of a switching flap. disposed at the entrance of the housing. The cooling of the air is provided by at least one evaporator 24 arranged in the channel and conventionally preceded by a particulate filter, activated carbon or combined 26, or more generally any adsorbent, for the treatment of odorous or harmful gases . The air is heated by a liquid heat exchanger radiator 28 traversed by the engine coolant and preceded by a controlled mixing flap 30.

  The position of the various flaps is conventionally controlled by electric actuators (DC or step-by-step motors) as a function of instructions C1 - C5 generated by specific interfaces of a control panel 32 arranged in the passenger compartment of the motor vehicle and receiving various sensor information Si, including temperature. These actuators incorporate a stop or forcing detection function to allow automatic shutter setting.

  Thus, a first setpoint C1 generated by a first interface 32A of the control panel is provided for controlling a first actuator 34A of the switching flap 22 through a control circuit 36A which will process this setpoint. Likewise, a second setpoint C2 generated by a second interface 32B is provided for controlling a second actuator 34B of the mixing flap 30 through a second control circuit 36B which will process this instruction. It is of course a similar architecture for controlling the air distribution flaps, with a third interface 32C acting on a third actuator 34C via a third control circuit 36C for the flap 14, a fourth interface 32D acting on a fourth actuator 34D via a fourth control circuit 36D for the flap 16 and a fifth interface 32E acting on a fifth actuator 34E via a fifth control circuit 36E for the flap 18.

  These shutters each have different characteristics. Indeed, the switching flap must be able to close very quickly to block the entry of pollutants while this constraint is not required of the air distribution flaps or mixing. Therefore, the actuators are necessarily different types (DC motors for some when speed is sought, stepper motors for others when precision is sought) and, for the same type of actuator, because of the the absence of standardization, these actuators may also have different characteristics (for example a reduction ratio distinct from two stepper motors which implies a different ratio of steps / degree of angle traveled) and it is therefore necessary that the command 32 takes into account these features at the level of the specific interfaces which include in particular the different control algorithms generating the instructions for the control circuits of these actuators. These instructions can take different forms depending on the type of engine, absolute position to reach or relative displacement from the current position.

  As a result, any change in engine type, or even simply any change in the characteristics of a given engine involves a modification of this control panel.

  OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The subject of the invention is a device for controlling the shutters of a ventilation, heating and / or air-conditioning installation which overcomes the disadvantages of the existing devices in that it does not require a modification. from the control panel at each change of actuator or simply a characteristic of this actuator.

  Another object of the invention is to provide a device adapted both to a conventional control panel of the analog type and to a control board of the digital type.

  Another object of the invention is to allow the control of these flaps from a displacement instruction having a single form of control regardless of the type of actuator acting on the flaps.

  These goals are achieved by means of a shutter control device of a ventilation, heating and / or air conditioning of the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle, each of said shutters being controlled by an actuator through a control circuit , characterized in that each control circuit receives a determined setpoint of an interface circuit comprising means for storing a stroke value of the actuator, each interface circuit being connected to the same output of a control panel of the ventilation, heating and / or air conditioning system.

  With this configuration, the signal delivered by the control panel is identical regardless of the type of actuator used, the setting and control of this actuator is now performed directly at this actuator.

  Said common output supplies each of said interface circuits with a control signal corresponding to a percentage of opening / closing of each of said flaps.

  Said control signal is chosen from among the following signals: position signal, speed signal and calibration command.

  Depending on the type of control board used, said control signal is an analog voltage signal, a PWM signal or a digital signal.

  Preferably, said storage means comprise a non-volatile memory.

  The invention also relates to an installation for ventilation, heating and / or air conditioning of the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle comprising the above-mentioned shutter control device.

2875440 4

Brief description of the drawings

  Other features and advantages of the device according to the invention will appear on reading the description given below, by way of indication but not limitation, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: - Figure 1 shows an embodiment of a ventilation, heating and / or air conditioning installation equipping a motor vehicle comprising a shutter control device according to the invention, and - Figure 2 shows an embodiment of a ventilation, heating and / or air conditioning installation comprising a shutter control device of the prior art.

  Detailed description of the embodiments,

  FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a shutter control device according to the invention implemented in a ventilation, heating and / or air-conditioning installation of a motor vehicle.

  The installation in question is that described above with reference to Figure 2 with its blower 20 and its controlled flaps 14, 16, 18, 22, 30 mounted in the air distribution duct 12 of a housing 10 of this installation and it will not be detailed again.

  Likewise, as before, the position of the various flaps are controlled by electric actuators 34A-34E via respective control circuits 36A-36E of these actuators. However, unlike the structure of the prior art, these control circuits which receive the instructions C1-05 are no longer controlled directly by specific interfaces of the control panel 32. Similarly, the control panel no longer manages the actuator stop detection function and therefore no longer memorizes the stroke values of these different actuators.

  Indeed, according to the invention, the control panel delivers on a single common output 32U the same multiplexed control signal Cu to a plurality of interface circuits 38A-38E each associated with one of the aforementioned control circuits. The multiplexed control signal is a serial type signal which makes it possible to converse with a single actuator or all the actuators as a function of an identifier contained in each message conveyed by this signal, the interface circuit determining each actuator. reading this identifier if the message is addressed to him or not. In addition, each interface circuit comprises a storage means 40A-40E. From this universal control signal Cu, the interface circuits will each develop the specific instructions (for example Cl) to be delivered to the actuators as a function of parameters stored in their own memory means, in particular the value of the travel of the actuator, and the type of control of the actuator concerned.

  The combination of this interface circuit with the actuator makes it completely autonomous and allow to standardize and simplify the control function of the actuators to the control panel and to change if necessary this actuator without touching the control panel. In addition, such a configuration that places the intelligence in the actuator provides the ability to control the actuators from an analog control board.

  Depending on the desired safety level, at each start or possibly periodically, all x starts (for example every 250 starts), each actuator will calculate its own stroke using a calibration function. Thus, on a calibration order of the control panel, which can be an analog voltage for the traditional analog boards or a binary value for the digital boards (see the tables before), the interface circuit will give a first instruction of displacement to this actuator (the shape of the setpoint depends on the type of actuator) which will then move in the setting position (first stop) and then in the opposite direction (second stop) on a second displacement instruction. During the detection of each stop, the position of the actuator is recovered by the interface circuit which then deduces the value of the stroke of the actuator. This value is then stored in the storage means associated with the corresponding interface circuit.

  Thus, thanks to the knowledge of this race, the interface circuit can easily deduce the displacement that the actuator must achieve to reach a given position by the universal control signal Cu of the control panel. This position is characterized by a value delivered in analog or digital according to the type of the control panel and corresponding to a given percentage of opening / closing of the shutter. This percentage is sent to the interface circuit which converts it into a relative or absolute displacement with respect to its current position. For example, a percentage of k% corresponds to an instruction to move from n to the right or a setpoint to go to position x while the motor is in position y (displacement of y-x step). The following three tables give an example of this universal command signal for flap control.

  Universal control signal One-byte interface circuit setpoint For the actuator Binary value from 0 to 250 Reach the target position from 0 to 100% (ie a resolution of 0.4%) Value 251 Start calibration Value 252 Calibration at low stop Value 253 Stall at high stop Universal command signal Interface circuit reference sent in PWM For the actuator According to the duty cycle Reach the target position from 0 to 100% (ie a resolution of 1%) 0 during is then 1 during is start Calibration 0 Calibration at low stop 1 Stall at high stop Universal command signal Setpoint of the interface circuit sent in analog for the actuator From IV to 4V Achieve the target position from 0 to 100% (resolution according to the no voltage) OV during is then IV during Launch calibration 1s OV for 10 seconds Calibration at low stop 5V for 10 seconds Stalling at high end As shown in the second table, the interface circuit can be a electronic module operating according to the pulse width modulation (PWM) principle 2875440 7 varying the duration of a continuous series of pulses of constant frequency and amplitude, according to the universal position setpoint provided by the control board . The signal delivered by this electronic module can then be transformed into voltage conventionally by RC filtering.

  It may be noted that this universal control signal can also be used for a transmission of a speed reference for the actuators, the differentiation by the interface circuit between this speed reference and the previous position setpoint that may result from the reception. a control signal of value 254 for example (case of a digital table). Thus, to one-byte coding (binary values from 0 to 256), it is possible to associate a linear speed from 0 to n radians / second for example. Finally, if we spoke mainly control shutters of an air conditioning system, it is clear that such a configuration can also be applied to the control of the blower actuator of this installation.

  With the present invention, the prior identification phase by the control panel is no longer necessary if several types of motors are present in the installation. In addition, the type of one or more motors can be changed (for example following a change of manufacturer or engine generation) without impact on the rest of the installation, the displacement instructions being standard. Because of this standardization, the control panel is significantly simplified compared to the prior art and can therefore itself be more easily standardized. Finally, since the control signal transiting between the control board and the interface circuit is a percentage as explained above, the position of the motor can be coded on an unlimited number of bits and thus the coding of the position can be performed with a resolution only limited by the processing capacity of the control board and interface circuits (and thus can be very high).

Claims (1)

8 claims   1. Device for controlling the shutters of a ventilation, heating and / or air-conditioning installation of the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle, each of said shutters being controlled by an actuator (34A-34E) through a control circuit (36A-36E), characterized in that each control circuit receives a determined setpoint of an interface circuit (38A-38E) comprising means (40A-40E) for memorizing a stroke value of the actuator , each interface circuit being connected to the same output (32U) of a control panel (32) of the ventilation system, heating and / or air conditioning.   2. Control device according to claim 1, characterized in that said common output (32U) provides each of said interface circuits a control signal corresponding to a percentage of opening / closing of each of said flaps.   3. Control device according to claim 2, characterized in that said control signal is selected from the following signals: position signal, speed signal and calibration order.   4. Control device according to claim 2, characterized in that said control signal is an analog voltage signal.   5. Control device according to claim 2, characterized in that said control signal is a PWM signal.   6. Control device according to claim 2, characterized in that said control signal is a digital signal.   7. Control device according to claim 2, characterized in that said storage means comprise a non-volatile memory.   8. Installation for ventilation, heating and / or air conditioning of the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle comprising a flap control device according to any one of claims 1 to 7.