JP2001080509A - Air conditioner for rolling stock, and controlling method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To save electricity in an air conditioner by stopping an outdoor fan during traveling to cool a condenser with traveling wind of a rolling stock, to reduce a noise in the air conditioner during train traveling, and to enhance working efficiency for inspection of the air conditioner. SOLUTION: An outdoor equipment 21 is arranged in the central part of a body width direction, indoor equipments 25A, 25B are arranged in both sides thereof, an outdoor fan 211 is arranged in the central part in a longitudinal direction in the outdoor equipment 21, and condensers 213a, 213b are arranged in both sides thereof. An operation of the outdoor fan 211 is stopped since the condensers 213a, 213b are cooled by traveling wind when a rolling stock travels, in this constitution.

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 railway vehicle, and more particularly to a structure of an air conditioner and a method of controlling the air conditioner, which cools a condenser by utilizing a vehicle running wind to achieve energy saving of the air conditioner. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An air conditioner mounted on a roof disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-221913 is known as an air conditioner for railway vehicles used for commuter trains and the like. In this air conditioner, an outdoor unit and an indoor unit are arranged side by side in a longitudinal direction of a vehicle body, and an outdoor fan is provided at a central portion of the air conditioner in a vehicle body width direction.
Condensers are placed on both sides of the outdoor fan. The indoor fan is arranged such that the motor shaft of the fan and the heat transfer tube of the evaporator are parallel to each other.

[0003] When the train is running, the condenser is cooled by the running wind, so that power can be saved by the power consumption of the outdoor fan. The air conditioner having such a configuration has the following problems. That is, the noise of the outdoor fan at the time of air-conditioning operation gives discomfort to the people around, and the power consumption is increased by operating the outdoor fan for a long time. In addition, since the arrangement of the equipment in the air conditioner is asymmetric with respect to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body, the center of gravity is greatly shifted from the center, and there is a problem that the apparatus is greatly inclined when the wire rope is carried by the crane. In addition, since the indoor fan is disposed at a central portion distant from the side of the vehicle, the operator has to move into the frame of the air conditioner at the time of the inspection work, resulting in poor work efficiency.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides an air conditioner in which the outdoor fan is stopped while the vehicle is running and the condenser is cooled by the wind of the vehicle. An object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner for a railway vehicle and a control method thereof, which can save power, reduce noise of the air conditioner during running of a train, and improve the efficiency of inspection work of the air conditioner.

[0005]

According to the present invention, an air conditioner for a railway vehicle according to the present invention has an outdoor unit disposed at a central portion in a vehicle body width direction of the air conditioner, and an indoor unit disposed on both sides thereof. When the vehicle travels, the condenser is cooled by the traveling wind, so that the operation of the outdoor fan is stopped.

[0006] The control method of the present invention is configured such that when the control means outputs a command for forming a second refrigerant path for flowing refrigerant into a specific condensing means, an operation stop command is output to the outdoor fan.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings. Here, FIG. 1 is a plan view of the air conditioner, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a refrigeration cycle, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a side view illustrating the flow of the cooling air to be blown, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 4, FIG. 6 is a view illustrating the configuration of the control device, and FIG. 7 is a timing chart of operation control of the air conditioner.

[0008] Two air conditioners 2 (a first air conditioner 2a and a second air conditioner 2b) are mounted on a roof 3 of a vehicle body 1 shown in this embodiment. Cool air from the air conditioner 2 is uniformly blown into the vehicle via air distribution ducts 4 (4a, 4b) disposed in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body at the outer end of the vehicle body in the vehicle width direction. As shown in FIG. 5, the air inside the vehicle is returned to a return duct 5 (5a, 5b) provided on the outer end side in the width direction of the vehicle body 1.
From the air conditioner 2.

Next, an air conditioner 2 according to the present invention will be described (see FIG. 1). In the air conditioner 2, the outdoor unit 21 is installed at the center of the air conditioner in the vehicle width direction, and the first indoor unit 25A and the second indoor unit 25B are arranged on both sides of the outdoor unit 21 in the vehicle width direction. I have. The outdoor unit 21 has an outdoor fan 211 arranged at the center. And the outdoor fan 21
, A first condenser 213 is provided on both sides in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body.
a, the second condenser 213b is arranged. In the outdoor unit 21, a compressor 215 and an accumulator 217 are installed in an empty space on the side where the outdoor fan 211 is provided (center portion). Since the first indoor unit 25A and the second indoor unit 25B arranged so as to sandwich the outdoor unit 21 have the same shape, the configuration of the first indoor unit 25A will be described here.

The indoor unit 25A includes an indoor fan 251a and a first evaporator 253a and a second evaporator 253b disposed on both sides of the indoor fan 251a in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. The indoor fan 251a uses a multi-blade fan, and its motor shaft is arranged in a direction parallel to the longitudinal direction (running direction) of the vehicle. Also, the first evaporator 253
a, the second evaporator 253b arranges the heat transfer tubes of the evaporators in a direction perpendicular to the direction of disposition of the motor shaft of the indoor fan 251a, that is, in the vehicle width direction. are doing. The first indoor unit 25A and the second indoor unit 25B having such a configuration are arranged symmetrically with respect to the outdoor unit 21. A return port 25 for the air inside the vehicle is provided at both end portions in the vehicle width direction of each of the indoor units 25A and 25B.
5a, 255b are perforated, and the return duct 5 (5a,
5b).

In the air conditioner 2 having the above configuration, when the vehicle travels in the direction of the arrow H, the condenser 213a disposed on the upstream side in the vehicle traveling direction receives the traveling wind of the arrow F. The traveling wind indicated by the arrow F enters the outdoor unit 21 from the grill 217a that covers the first condenser 213a of the outdoor unit 21, and air-cools the first condenser 213a. After that, part of the outdoor fan 21
The air is exhausted from the upper grill 217c as exhaust air F1. The other wind is located on the downstream side in the vehicle traveling direction.
Of the condenser 213b is air-cooled, and is discharged into the atmosphere as a discharge air F2 through a grill 217b.

Next, a refrigeration cycle of the air conditioner 2 of the present invention when the vehicle travels in the direction of arrow H will be described with reference to FIG. The high-temperature, high-pressure gas refrigerant discharged from the compressor 215 of the outdoor unit 21 is sent to the condenser through the solenoid valve. The outdoor unit 21 includes a first solenoid valve 30a having a refrigerant path as a first condenser 213a, and a refrigerant path as a second condenser 2a.
13b is provided with a second solenoid valve 30b. When the vehicle travels in the direction of arrow H, the first solenoid valve 30a communicating with the first condenser 213a disposed on the upstream side in the traveling direction is opened. The refrigerant is the first solenoid valve 30a
Through the first condenser 213a, and is cooled by the traveling wind F to become a high-pressure liquid refrigerant.

The liquid refrigerant passes through a check valve and passes through each indoor unit 25.
A and 25B are sent to the evaporator. At this time, the check valve communicating with the first condenser 213a is connected to the first check valve 35a,
The check valve communicating with the second condenser 213b is referred to as a second check valve 35b. The refrigerant cooled by the traveling wind of the vehicle passing through the first condenser 213a is divided by the first check valve 32a and flows into each evaporator. Each evaporator 253 is provided with a capillary tube 40, and the refrigerant flowing into the first evaporator 253a is depressurized by the capillary tube 40a to be in a low-temperature, low-pressure saturated state. Similarly, each evaporator 25
The refrigerant flowing into 3b, 253c, 253d is decompressed by the capillary tubes 40b, 40c, 40d and becomes low-temperature, low-pressure refrigerant. The low-temperature, low-pressure refrigerant exchanges heat with the air in the vehicle taken in through the relieving ducts 5a, 5b opening into the vehicle in each evaporator 253, and becomes a high-temperature, high-pressure gas refrigerant. This gas refrigerant returns to the compressor 215 through the accumulator 217 and circulates through the refrigeration cycle.
... The circulation path of the refrigerant is referred to as a second refrigerant path.

When the traveling direction of the vehicle is reversed, ie, in the direction of arrow R, the first solenoid valve 30a is closed, and the second solenoid valve 213b is connected to the second condenser 213b disposed upstream in the traveling direction of the vehicle. Of the solenoid valve 30b is opened. In this case, the compressor 2
The gas refrigerant discharged from 15 flows into the second condenser 213b, is heat-exchanged by the traveling wind in the direction of arrow FR to become a liquid refrigerant, and is divided into four evaporators through the check valve 35b. As described above, the air conditioner according to the present invention has two condensers 213a and 213b during traveling.
One of the condensers disposed on the upstream side in the traveling direction cools the refrigerant by the traveling wind.

Here, the relationship between the running speed of the vehicle and the running wind speed is as follows. When the speed of the vehicle is 40 km / h, the wind speed at the front of the condenser provided upstream of the outdoor unit 21 in the running direction is about 5 km. 0.6 m / s. This wind speed is significantly higher than the 3 m / s which is the front wind speed of the condenser of the conventional vehicle air conditioner, that is, the condenser arranged parallel to the traveling direction of the vehicle. As described above, the heat exchange efficiency of the condenser using the traveling wind is increased, and a sufficient cooling effect can be obtained only with one condenser disposed on the upstream side in the traveling direction.

However, when the speed of the vehicle is equal to or lower than a certain speed, for example, equal to or lower than 40 km / h, the cooling wind is insufficient with only the traveling wind.

Therefore, when the speed falls below a certain speed, the outdoor fan 211 is operated and the two solenoid valves 30a and 30b are simultaneously opened to set the refrigerant path in two directions. In this case, the refrigerant is cooled by the two condensers 213a and 213b. ... this refrigerant path is referred to as a first refrigerant path. In addition, even when the vehicle is stopped, the cooling operation of the outdoor fan 211 and the indoor fans 251a and 251b is performed by the first refrigerant path, and the electromagnetic valve 30 is operated.
am and 30b are opened and the refrigerant is cooled by the two condensers 213a and 213b with the refrigerant path in two directions.
The compressor 215 is operated. The switching of the air conditioner according to the speed of the vehicle is executed by a command from the control device.

Next, a control device of the present air conditioner will be described with reference to FIG. The control device 50 includes a microcomputer 51 that executes various calculations and comparison / judgment in accordance with instructions of an execution program stored in a ROM (read only memory) 52. A RAM (random access memory) 53 is a place for temporarily storing various data. A speed signal from a speed detector 60 provided in the vehicle is input to a microcomputer 51 via a DI relay 054. The analog data detected by the indoor temperature sensor 63 and the indoor humidity sensor 65 is A / D
The data is converted into a digital value by the converter 55 and input to the microcomputer 51. The microcomputer 51 executes arithmetic processing or comparison / determination processing on the input speed signal, temperature signal, and humidity signal, and
2 is output to the contactor 70 via the DO (digital output) relay 56. The operation of the outdoor fan 211, the indoor fans 251a and 251b, and the solenoid valves 30a and 30b is controlled by switching the contactor 70 on and off.

On the other hand, the digital value of the frequency command output from the microcomputer 51 is stored in the D / A converter 57.
Is converted to an analog value and input to the operating frequency command terminal of the inverter 71. The operation of the compressor 215 is controlled at a frequency corresponding to the analog value input to the inverter 71.

The control device 50 of the air conditioner 2 controls the outdoor fan 211 and the indoor fans 251a and 251b while the vehicle is stopped.
And the compressor 215 is operated with the solenoid valves 30am and 30b opened (referred to as a first control circuit). When the vehicle travels and reaches a certain speed or more and the contact of the speed detector 60 is closed, the electromagnetic valve on the downstream side in the vehicle traveling direction is shut off to stop the operation of the outdoor fan 211 (second control circuit).

The gas refrigerant discharged from the compressor 215 is
When the control device 50 forms the second refrigerant path by the second control circuit, the condenser 213 is air-cooled and liquefied by the traveling wind in the condenser 213 arranged on the upstream side in the traveling direction of the vehicle and passes through the check valve 35 to the capillary. Tubes 40a, 40b, 40c, 4
0d, where the refrigerant that has been decompressed and the liquid refrigerant has started to gasify is the evaporator 253a, 253b, 235c, 235
While passing through d, the air in the vehicle is cooled. Evaporator 253
The refrigerant gasified by removing heat from the air at a, 253b, 235c, and 235d returns to the compressor 215 through the accumulator 217.

Next, control of the control device 50 will be described with reference to a timing chart shown in FIG. When the power supply of the air conditioner 2 is turned on at time T1, the control device initializes all data, and outputs the outdoor fan 211 and the indoor fans 251a and 251a.
1b is turned ON (operated). Time T when the vehicle starts running
When the speed detector 60 detects the speed of 40 km / h in 2,
The contact of the speed detector 60 closes (OFF). This contact O
When the FF signal is input to the control device 50, the control device 50
Closes the second solenoid valve 30b (power cutoff). Others
The cooling operation is controlled by a generally used method of changing the operating frequency of the compressor 215 according to the difference between the room temperature and the set temperature.

As described above, the control of the present air conditioner is performed by the first control circuit using the first refrigerant while the vehicle is running at a low speed after stopping (while the speed detector 60 detects the speed from 0 to 40 km / h). To form a path. That is, in the cooling operation, the outdoor fan 211 and the indoor fans 251a and 251b are operated, the solenoid valves 30a and 30b are opened, and the operation of the compressor 217 is controlled.

When the speed detector 60 detects a constant speed, a second refrigerant path is formed by the second control circuit. That is, the contact of the speed detector 60 is closed (OF).
F), the second electromagnetic valve 30b is operated (ON) to stop the operation of the outdoor fan 211 (OFF). In this state, the gas refrigerant discharged from the compressor 215 receives the traveling wind in the condenser 213 disposed on the upstream side in the vehicle traveling direction, is air-cooled and liquefied, passes through the opened check valve, and passes through the room. The refrigerant reaches the evaporator of the air conditioner 25, cools by removing heat from the air in the vehicle, and gasifies the refrigerant.

Although the cooling operation method using the traveling wind of the vehicle has been described above, the number of indoor units may be integrated into one, and the configuration of the apparatus is not limited to this embodiment. Various changes are possible.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, the outdoor fan is stopped while the train is running by employing a configuration in which the condenser disposed upstream in the vehicle running direction is cooled by the running wind. Thus, the power consumption of the air conditioner can be reduced, and the noise of the air conditioning during running of the vehicle can be reduced. Further, since the indoor unit is disposed on the side of the vehicle, the inspection of the indoor fan can be easily performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an air conditioner.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a refrigeration cycle.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a vehicle having an air conditioner mounted on a roof.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the vehicle.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a control system.

FIG. 7 is a control timing chart of the control device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle 2 Air conditioner 3 Roof 4 Air distribution duct 5 Return duct 25 Indoor unit 30a Solenoid valve 30b Solenoid valve 35a, 35b Check valve 40 Capillary tube 50 Controller 51 Microcomputer 55 Converter 56 Relay 57 Converter 57 Converter 60 Speed detector 70 Contact Unit 71 Inverter 211 Outdoor fan 213a, 213b Condenser 215 Compressor 217 Accumulator 251a, 251b Indoor fan 253a, 253b, 235c, 235d Evaporator

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An air conditioner for a railway vehicle including an outdoor unit having an outdoor fan, a condenser, and the like, and an indoor unit having an indoor fan, an evaporator, and the like. An air conditioner for a railway vehicle, wherein an indoor unit is arranged on both sides of the outdoor unit in the vehicle width direction. 2. The air conditioner for a railway vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the outdoor unit has an outdoor fan disposed in a center portion and a condenser disposed upstream and downstream of the outdoor fan in a vehicle traveling direction. An air conditioner for a railway vehicle, characterized in that: 3. The railway vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the indoor unit has a heat transfer tube of an evaporator arranged orthogonal to a motor shaft of an indoor fan. Air conditioner. 4. An air conditioner for a railway vehicle including an outdoor unit having an outdoor fan, a condenser, etc., an indoor unit having an indoor fan, an evaporator, etc., and a control device for controlling the operation of each device. Arranges an outdoor fan in the center, arranges a plurality of condensers on the upstream side and the downstream side in the vehicle traveling direction of the outdoor fan, and the control device controls the first fan to simultaneously operate the outdoor fan and the condenser.
And a second control circuit that stops the outdoor fan and activates only a specific condenser, and is configured to activate the second control circuit when a predetermined speed signal is input. Air conditioner for railway vehicles. 5. The railway vehicle air conditioner according to claim 4, wherein the condenser operated in the second control circuit is a condenser disposed on the upstream side in the vehicle traveling direction. Vehicle air conditioners. 6. A method for controlling an air conditioner for a railway vehicle, which controls the operation of an outdoor fan and an indoor fan and the formation of a refrigerant path such as compression, condensation, and evaporation, wherein the refrigerant path is a compressed refrigerant path. Is divided into a plurality of condensing means.
And a second refrigerant path through which the compressed refrigerant flows into the specific condensing means, and when the control means outputs a second refrigerant path forming instruction, outputs an operation stop instruction to the outdoor fan. Of controlling a railway vehicle air conditioner. 7. The method of controlling an air conditioner for a railway vehicle according to claim 6, wherein the condensing means of the second refrigerant path is a condensing means located on the upstream side in the traveling direction of the vehicle, and the control means has a predetermined vehicle speed. A method for controlling a railway vehicle air conditioner, which outputs the formation of a second refrigerant path when is input.