JP2001304626A - Heat storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To load a vehicle battery, without having to consider the voltage value of the battery, even when the voltage of a battery 63 loaded on a vehicle is either 12 or 24 volt. SOLUTION: The voltage of an on-vehicle battery is detected by a voltage- detecting sensor 62. In case of the battery voltage as 12 volt, a circuit is changed-over, so that a plurality of electronic thermal elements 31 are respectively brought into a parallel connection. In case of the battery voltage as 24 volt, the two electronic thermal elements 31 are interconnected in series and make one pair. By interconnecting a pair of the electronic thermal elements 31 in parallel, an individual electronic thermal element 31 is provided with a source adaptive circuit 60, having a switch 61 for switching a circuit so that a 12-volt voltage is applied.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a heat storage device suitable for being mounted on a vehicle such as a long-distance truck or the like. The present invention relates to such a heat storage device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Today, air conditioners are provided as standard equipment in long-distance trucks and the like so as to be capable of cooling and heating, and vehicles having a nap room at the rear side of a driver's seat or the like are provided on the market. . In the following description, the room to be harmonized will be described as being inside a vehicle.

In such a case, cooling is performed by operating a refrigeration circuit provided with a compressor that rotates by receiving driving force from the engine, and heating is performed using waste heat of the engine.

[0004] However, when taking a nap in the nap room, the engine is generally stopped, and there is a problem that it is difficult to take a sufficient nap because the winter is cold and the summer is hot.

Therefore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 8-192519 discloses a heat storage device provided with a heat storage material.

[0006] Cooling during running is performed by operating a refrigeration circuit, and heating is performed by using waste heat of the engine. Cooling and heating when the engine is stopped, such as during a nap, is performed by cooling or heating during running. The heat is stored by storing the heat as described below, and the heat is used as a heat source.

That is, the heat storage device is connected to a refrigeration circuit and includes a heat storage evaporator. The cold heat storage is performed by evaporating a part of the refrigerant circulating in the refrigeration circuit by the cold storage evaporator. The heat storage material closely arranged in the cool storage evaporator is cooled to perform the heat storage.

On the other hand, heat is stored by forming a flow path so that air in the machine circulates through a cool storage evaporator, and providing a heater in the flow path to reduce air heated by the heater during traveling. This is done by exchanging heat with the heat storage material.

The cooling or warming operation is performed by using the thus stored cold or warm heat as a heat source when the engine is stopped such as during a nap.

[0010]

However, in the above configuration, since a refrigerant is used to store cold heat in the heat storage material, it is necessary to connect a pipe to a refrigeration circuit, and it is difficult to easily add a heat storage device. There was a problem.

In the case where the heat storage device is mounted on a vehicle, the mounted battery voltage may be different depending on the vehicle. Products must be prepared, which makes product management, inventory management, and the like complicated, and causes a problem that a user purchases the product by mistake and installs the product as it is, causing a failure or fire.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a heat storage device that can be easily and safely added regardless of existing facilities.

[0013]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a heat exchange unit for exchanging heat between a heat transfer medium and outside air, and storing at least one of cold heat and warm heat. A heat storage unit provided with a heat storage material to be provided, and provided in thermal contact with the heat storage unit. When storing cold heat in the heat storage unit, the heat storage unit absorbs heat and radiates heat, and stores heat in the heat storage unit. In this case, a heat transfer unit having a plurality of electronic heating and cooling elements for dissipating heat absorbed from outside air to the heat storage unit, and a voltage of a power supply supplied to the electronic heating and cooling element are detected, and A power supply adapting circuit that changes the connection method of a plurality of electronic heating / cooling elements so that the voltage supplied to the heating / cooling elements is always a constant voltage. It is characterized in that it can be safely added without depending on the voltage.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, when the power supply application circuit determines that a 12 volt power supply is connected, the electronic heating / cooling elements are connected in parallel, and it is determined that a 24 volt power supply is connected. In such a case, two electronic heating / cooling elements connected in series are connected in parallel, so that a voltage of 12 volts is always applied to each electronic heating / cooling element, easily and independently of existing equipment, and , And can be safely added.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a heat storage device 2 according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram thereof.

The heat storage device 2 is provided with a heat insulating case 10 in which a heat insulating material 11 is provided, a heat storing unit 20 having a heat storing material 21 housed in the heat insulating case 10, and provided in thermal contact with the heat storing unit 20. A heat transfer unit 30 provided with an electronic heating / cooling element 31 such as a Peltier element for transferring heat to the heat storage material 21 to store heat, to extract heat stored in the heat storage unit 20, or to store heat in the heat storage unit 20. A heat exchange unit 40 provided with a heat exchanger 41 for exchanging heat between the air inside the vehicle and the heat transfer medium, a circulation path switching unit 50 provided with a switching valve 51 for switching a circulation path through which the heat transfer medium circulates, are supplied. A power supply adaptation circuit 60 and the like are provided to keep the voltage applied to the electronic heating / cooling element 31 constant even when the type of power supply changes.

The heat storage unit 20 is connected to the heat exchange unit 40.
And the heat transfer unit 30 are connected by the pipe 3 so as to be in parallel.

The heat-insulating case 10 is provided with a heat-insulating lid 12, and a packing 13 is provided around the heat-insulating lid 12. This prevents the heat storage material 21 from spilling when the heat insulating lid 12 is closed.

The heat storage section 20 includes a heat storage material 21 for storing cold or hot heat, and a heat storage side having a plurality of fins 23 erected on a substrate 22 so as to efficiently store heat in the heat storage material 21. The heat storage material 21 is constituted by a heat sink 24 and the like, and is stored between the fins 23.

The heat storage material 21 is preferably water or glycerin hydrate when storing cold heat, and is preferably paraffinic squalane hydrate or sodium acetate hydrate when storing heat. Here, the hydrate refers to a substance containing water.

At the base of the fin 23, a flow path 4 forming a circulation path of the heat transfer medium is formed.

The heat transfer section 30 includes an electronic heating / cooling element 31 having a heat storage side heat sink 24 provided on one surface thereof in thermal contact to generate a heat flow in a predetermined direction, and a heat transfer side on the other surface of the electronic heating / cooling element 31. A heat source side heat sink 32 and the like are provided in contact with each other to enable efficient heat exchange with the heat storage material 21 via the electronic heating / cooling element 31. 4 are formed.

The electronic heating / cooling element 31 is sandwiched between the heat storage side heat sink 24 and the heat source side heat sink 32 while maintaining thermal contact. And the direction of the heat flow changes. The heat flow refers to the flow of heat when heat is conducted from the heat absorbing surface to the heat radiating surface.

For example, in FIG. 1, when the surface in contact with the heat storage side heat sink 24 is designated as surface A and the surface in contact with the heat source side heat sink 32 is designated as surface B, the surface A becomes a heat absorbing surface when a current flows in one direction. Is the heat dissipation surface.

Therefore, in this case, the heat of the heat storage material 21 is absorbed from the surface A and released from the surface B to the heat transfer medium via the heat source side heat sink 32, and the heat storage material 21 loses heat and is cooled. That is, cold heat is stored in the heat storage material 21.

On the other hand, when the direction of the current is reversed, the heat of the heat transfer medium is absorbed through the heat source side heat sink 32 through the surface B and is radiated from the surface A to the heat storage material 21 through the heat storage side heat sink 24. Thus, the heat storage material 21 is heated. That is, warm heat is stored in the heat storage material 21.

The heat exchanging section 40 has a heat exchanger 41 for exchanging heat between the heat transfer medium and the air inside the vehicle, a blower 42 for blowing the air inside the vehicle to the heat exchanger 41, and the like.

The circulation path switching unit 50 circulates the heat transfer medium between the heat storage unit 20 and the heat exchange unit 40, or
Switching valve 5 for switching between circulation and heat exchange section 40
1. It has a pump 52 for circulating the heat transfer medium.

Although FIG. 2 shows a case where two switching valves 51 are provided, it goes without saying that the circulation path of the heat transfer medium can be switched even with one switching valve.

The solid arrows in FIG. 2 indicate the flow of the heat transfer medium when the cold or hot heat is stored in the heat storage material 21, and the dotted arrows indicate the flow of the heat transfer medium when the cold or hot heat stored in the heat storage material 21 is extracted. Shows the flow.

Next, an operation method of the heat storage device 2 having such a configuration will be described. First, the heat storage device 2 is installed on a long-distance truck or the like.

The heat storage device 2 according to the present invention can be operated only by supplying power to the electronic heating / cooling element 31, the blower 42, and the like, and therefore does not need to be connected to an existing air conditioner. Therefore, there is an advantage that the user can easily install the apparatus by himself.

It should be noted that the battery voltage may be 12 volts or 24 volts depending on the vehicle mounted. In order to cope with such a case, it is conceivable to prepare two types of heat storage devices 2 for driving 12 volts and for driving 24 volts. Supervision, inventory management, and the like become complicated, and a user purchases the product by mistake and installs the product as it is, causing a failure or the like.

Therefore, in the present invention, a power supply adaptive circuit 60 is provided as shown in FIGS. The power supply adapting circuit 60 has a plurality of switches 61 and a voltage detection sensor 62. The voltage detection sensor 62 detects the voltage of the vehicle-mounted battery, and the switch 61 switches based on the detection result.

For example, when the voltage of the vehicle-mounted battery 63 is 12 volts, the voltage detection sensor 62 detects this and switches each switch 61 as shown in FIG. As a result, each of the electronic heating / cooling elements 31 is connected in parallel to the battery 63.

On the other hand, when the voltage of the vehicle-mounted battery 63 is 24 volts, the voltage detection sensor 62 detects this and switches each switch 61 as shown in FIG. As a result, the two electronic heating / cooling elements 31 are connected in series to form a pair, and these are connected in parallel to the battery 63.

Therefore, in each case, each electronic heating / cooling element 31
Is supplied with a voltage of 12 volts, and only one kind of product is required, so that product supervision and inventory management become easy, and the user does not purchase the product accidentally. Can be prevented.

The heat storage material 21 is stored by opening the heat insulating lid 12 and pouring it between the fins 23, or inserting the cold storage material 21 sealed in a container. The heat-insulating lid 12 is provided with a packing 13 so that the heat storage material 21 stored during traveling does not fall.

Then, the pump 52 and the blower 42 are operated, and an electric current is supplied to the electronic heating / cooling element 31 so that the heat storage material 21
To store cold or warm heat.

For example, when cold heat is stored in the heat storage material 21, the electronic heating / cooling element 31 absorbs the heat of the heat storage material 21 via the heat storage side heat sink 24, and transfers the heat through the heat source side heat sink 32. An electric current is applied so as to radiate heat to the transport medium.

Thus, the heat of the heat storage material 21 is radiated to the heat transfer medium, and the temperature of the heat transfer medium increases. Since this heat transfer medium circulates through the heat exchanger 41, the heat exchanger 41 exchanges heat with the air inside the vehicle.

At this time, since the inside of the vehicle is cooled by the existing air conditioner and the temperature is low, the heat transfer medium can efficiently exchange heat (dissipate heat), and the heat of the heat storage material 21 can be efficiently removed. It is possible to take away. That is, cold energy can be efficiently stored.

In particular, since glycerin hydrate solidifies at 5 to 10 ° C., it can be easily solidified in a short time.

On the other hand, when the cooling operation is performed by utilizing the cold heat stored in this way, the switching valve 51 is switched to switch the switching valve 51 as shown in FIG.
As shown in (2), the heat transfer medium is caused to flow in the direction of the dotted arrow so as to circulate through the heat storage side heat sink 24.

As a result, the heat transfer medium is cooled by the heat storage material 21 via the heat storage side heat sink 24 to lower the temperature, and the heat transfer medium exchanges heat with the air inside the vehicle in the heat exchanger 41, thereby cooling the inside of the vehicle. Is done.

When storing heat in the heat storage material 21, the direction of the current flowing through the electronic heating / cooling element 31 is reversed. Thereby, the heat of the heat transfer medium is absorbed through the heat source side heat sink 32, and the heat is absorbed by the heat storage side heat sink 2.
The heat is dissipated to the heat storage material 21 through the heat storage material 4.

At this time, the temperature of the heat transfer medium drops because the heat is taken away. However, since the interior of the vehicle is heated by the existing air conditioner, the heat exchanger 41 efficiently exchanges heat with the air inside the vehicle (heat absorption). As a result, the heat storage efficiency of the heat can be increased.

On the other hand, when the heating operation is performed by using the heat stored in this way, the switching valve 51 is switched so that the operation shown in FIG.
As shown in (1), the heat transfer medium is caused to flow in the direction of the dotted arrow and circulated to the heat storage side heat sink 24.

As a result, the heat transfer medium warmed by the heat storage material 21 can be heated by exchanging heat with the air inside the vehicle in the heat exchanger 41.

In the above description, the air exchanged by the heat exchanger 41 is the air inside the vehicle. However, it goes without saying that the air may be exchanged with the air outside the vehicle.

In the above description, the heat storage device 2 is mounted on a long-distance truck or the like so that cooling and heating can be performed when the engine is stopped during a nap or the like. The present invention is not limited to this, and the stored heat may be used as a heat source other than cooling and heating (for example, a cold heat source while the vehicle is stopped in a refrigerator car or the like).

[0052]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the heat exchange section for exchanging heat between the heat transfer medium and the outside air and the heat storage material for storing at least one of cold heat and hot heat are provided. The heat storage unit provided is provided in thermal contact with the heat storage unit, and when storing cold heat in the heat storage unit, when absorbing heat from the heat storage unit and radiating heat, and when storing heat in the heat storage unit, ,
A heat transfer unit having a plurality of electronic heating / cooling elements for dissipating heat absorbed from outside air to the thermal storage unit, and detecting a voltage of a power supply supplied to the electronic heating / cooling elements and supplying the voltage to the electronic heating / cooling elements Since a power supply adapting circuit for changing the connection method of the plurality of electronic heating / cooling elements is provided so that the applied voltage is always a constant voltage, it can be easily and safely added regardless of existing equipment.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the power supply application circuit determines that the 12 volt power supply is connected, the electronic heating and cooling elements are connected in parallel, and the 24 volt power supply is connected. In the case of judgment, two electronic heating / cooling elements connected in series were connected in parallel, so that a voltage of 12 volts was always applied to each electronic heating / cooling element, regardless of existing equipment. It can be easily and safely added.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a heat storage device applied to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram.

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram of a power adaptation circuit, showing a case where a 12 volt battery is connected.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of a power supply adaptation circuit, showing a case where a 24-volt battery is connected.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 2 heat storage device 20 heat storage unit 21 heat storage material 30 heat transfer unit 31 electronic heating / cooling element 40 heat exchange unit 41 heat exchanger 50 circulation path switching unit 51 switching valve 60 power supply adaptation circuit 61 switch 62 voltage detection sensor 63 battery

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A heat exchange section for exchanging heat between a heat transfer medium and outside air, a heat storage section provided with a heat storage material for storing at least one of cold heat and hot heat, and provided in thermal contact with the heat storage section. When storing cold heat in the heat storage unit, heat is absorbed and radiated from the heat storage unit, and when heat is stored in the heat storage unit, heat absorbed from outside air is stored in the heat storage unit. A heat transfer unit including a plurality of electronic thermo-cooling elements that radiate heat, and detecting a voltage of a power supply supplied to the electronic thermo-cooling element,
A heat storage device, comprising: a power supply adaptation circuit that changes a connection method of a plurality of electronic heating / cooling elements so that a voltage supplied to the electronic heating / cooling element is always constant. 2. When the power supply application circuit determines that a 12 volt power supply is connected, the electronic heating / cooling elements are connected in parallel, and when it is determined that a 24 volt power supply is connected, 2 By connecting the serially connected electronic heating and cooling elements in parallel, each electronic heating and cooling element always has one.
The heat storage device according to claim 1, wherein a voltage of 2 volts is applied.