JP2002029239A - Air conditioner for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve a control characteristic favorable to a specific occupant (e.g. a driver) in an air conditioner for a vehicle correcting (learning) the control characteristic for the automatic control of the air conditioning state in a cabin in response to the actions of the occupant. SOLUTION: An operating occupant judging means judging whether the operating occupant is the driver or not is provided. The control characteristic is corrected when the occupant operating the operating means 34-38 is the driver, and the control characteristic is not corrected when the operating occupant is a person other than the driver, thereby only the actions of the driver are learned, and the air conditioner control characteristic favorable to the driver is achieved.

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 (mainly an automobile) having a so-called auto air conditioner function for automatically controlling an air condition in a vehicle compartment. The present invention relates to learning control for performing correction in accordance with an occupant's operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional air conditioner for a vehicle which performs this kind of learning control is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-208610. This conventional device learns the air flow rate changed by the occupant's manual operation and corrects the air conditioning control characteristics, thereby obtaining characteristics suitable for the occupant.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, the learning is performed regardless of whether the occupant who has performed the air volume changing operation is the driver or not. When a different air volume change operation is performed, there is a problem that the air conditioning control characteristics differ from the driver's preference.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and a vehicle air conditioner for correcting a control characteristic for automatically controlling an air conditioning state in a vehicle cabin based on an operation of an operation means. It is an object of the present invention to obtain an air-conditioning control characteristic suitable for the user's preference.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, sensors (39 to 43) for detecting information on environmental conditions related to an air-conditioning state in a vehicle cabin.
Operating means (34 to 38) operated by the occupant to set the air-conditioning state in the vehicle interior; automatically controlling the air-conditioning state in the vehicle interior based on the sensor output value; In a vehicle air conditioner that corrects based on the operation of the operation means (34 to 38), when the operation means (34 to 38) is operated, it is determined which seat the operated occupant is. An operation occupant determination means (S151) is provided, and a method of correcting the control characteristics is determined according to the determination result of the operation occupant determination means (S151).

According to this, when the occupant operating the operating means (34 to 38) is an occupant of a predetermined seat, the control characteristics are corrected, as in the invention according to claim 2, for example.
When the operated occupant is other than the occupant of the predetermined seat, it is possible to determine the correction method of the control characteristic so as not to perform the correction of the control characteristic, whereby only the operation of the occupant of the predetermined seat can be determined. By learning, it is possible to make the air-conditioning control characteristics suitable for the occupant of a predetermined seat.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the predetermined seat is a driver's seat.

[0008] According to this, the air-conditioning control characteristics can be adjusted to the preference of the driver who frequently uses the vehicle.

[0010] The reference numerals in parentheses of the above means indicate the correspondence with specific means described in the embodiments described later.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (First Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows the overall system configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention, in which the airflow of an air conditioning unit 10 constituting an indoor unit of a vehicle air conditioner is most upstream. The outside air inlet 11a and the inside air inlet 1 are on the side.
An inside / outside air switching box 11 having an inside / outside air switching box 11 having an inside / outside air switching box 11 is provided.

The inside / outside air switching door 12 is connected to the outside air inlet 1.
It is arranged at a branch point between 1a and the inside air inlet 11b, and is driven by an actuator 12a to switch the air introduced into the air conditioning unit 10 between inside air and outside air, or to adjust the mixing ratio of inside air and outside air.

A blower 13 as a blower is for sucking air into the inside / outside air switching box 11 and blowing it to the downstream side of the air conditioning unit 10, and includes a blower motor 14 and a centrifugal blower fan connected to its rotating shaft. 15.
An evaporator 16 and a heater core 17 are provided downstream of the blower fan 15.

The evaporator 16 is a cooling heat exchanger, and is connected to a compressor or the like driven by a vehicle engine (not shown) to form a refrigeration cycle. The low-pressure refrigerant inside the evaporator 16 absorbs heat from air and evaporates. Cool the air. The heater core 17 is a heat exchanger for heating, in which cooling water (warm water) of a vehicle engine (not shown) circulates, and heats the air using the engine cooling water as a heat source.

An air mixing door 18 is provided rotatably on the upstream side of the heater core 17 as a blown air temperature adjusting means, and the opening of the air mixing door 18 is adjusted by being driven by an actuator 18a. by this,
The air passing through the heater core 17 and the ratio of air bypassing the heater core 17 are adjusted, and the temperature of the air blown into the vehicle interior is adjusted.

A defroster door 2 for opening and closing a defroster (DEF) outlet 19 is located at the most downstream of the air conditioning unit 10.
0, a face door 22 that opens and closes a FACE outlet 21 and a foot door 24 that opens and closes a foot outlet 23 are provided.

Each of the doors 20, 22, and 24 constitutes a blowing mode switching means, and is driven by an actuator 25 to open and close each of the blowing ports 19, 21, and 23 to open and close various blowing modes (a face mode, a by-pass mode). Level mode, foot mode, foot differential mode, defroster mode, etc.) are set. Then, the air whose temperature has been adjusted is blown out into the vehicle interior from the blow-out opening opened according to each blow-out mode.

The air-conditioning control device 30 has a microcomputer 31 as control means, and adjusts an applied voltage (blower voltage) of the blower motor 14 via a drive circuit 32 based on an output signal from the microcomputer 31 for a blowing amount. The motor speed is controlled by adjusting the motor speed. In addition, other actuators 12a, 18a, and 25 also
It is controlled by the drive circuit 32 based on the output signal from the microcomputer 31.

The microcomputer 31 includes a central processing unit 31a (hereinafter referred to as a CPU), a standby RA
M31b, ROM, RAM, I / O not shown
It has a port, an A / D converter, etc., and is itself well known.
Numeral 31a is a calculating means for calculating the air-conditioning control amount.

The standby RAM 31b of the microcomputer 31 serves as storage means, and is an ignition switch (hereinafter, I / O) for interrupting the operation of the vehicle engine.
A RAM for storing (backing up) a value obtained by learning the occupant's preference even when the occupant is off.
Even when G is off, electric power is supplied directly from the vehicle battery without going through the IG. The microcomputer 3
A backup power supply (not shown) for supplying power to the microcomputer 31 for a short time even when the electrical connection between the battery 1 and the battery is interrupted is provided.

An operation signal is input to the microcomputer 31 from an air-conditioning operation unit 33 installed on the dashboard in the vehicle compartment. As shown in FIG. 2, the air-conditioning operation unit 33 includes:
AUTO switch 3 for setting the automatic control state of the air conditioner
4. Inside / outside air changeover switch 35 for manually switching and setting the inside / outside air mode, blowout mode changeover switch 36 for manually switching and setting the blowout mode, and air volume for manually setting the air volume of the blower 13 A changeover switch 37 and a temperature setting switch 38 for setting a passenger's favorite vehicle interior temperature (set temperature) TSET are provided. These switches 34 to 38 constitute operating means for the occupant to manually set the air-conditioning state in the passenger compartment.

The air flow rate changeover switch 37 is composed of an air volume up switch 37a and an air volume down switch 37b. The air volume up switch 37a is pressed each time the blower voltage (applied to the drive motor 14) is increased. The switch 37b outputs a signal that lowers the blower voltage by one level (for example, 0.25 volts) each time the air volume down switch 37b is pressed once.

The microcomputer 31 receives signals from various sensors for detecting environmental conditions that affect the air-conditioning condition in the passenger compartment. Specifically, an inside air temperature sensor 3 that detects an air temperature (inside air temperature) TR in the vehicle compartment
9. An outside air temperature sensor 40 for detecting the air temperature (outside air temperature) TAM outside the vehicle compartment, a solar radiation sensor 41 for detecting the amount of solar radiation TS entering the vehicle interior, and an evaporator temperature (specifically, an evaporator blow-out air temperature) TE From the evaporator temperature sensor 42 for detecting the engine temperature, the water temperature sensor 43 for detecting the engine water temperature TW circulating through the heater core 17, and the like are input to the microcomputer 31 via the respective level conversion circuits 45,
These are A / D converted and read by the microcomputer 31. The signal from the temperature setting switch 38 is also level-converted by the level conversion circuit 45 and input to the microcomputer 31.

Further, the microcomputer 31 includes:
A signal is input from an operation occupant detection sensor 44 for detecting which seat the occupant who operated the air volume changeover switch 37 is. This operation occupant detection sensor 44
Is an infrared temperature sensor that generates an electromotive force in accordance with the temperature of the test object.

The operation occupant detection sensor 44 is provided in the air conditioning operation section 33 as shown in FIG. Further, the operation occupant detection sensor 44 is attached to the driver's seat side, so that when the driver operates the air volume changeover switch 37, the driver's hand enters the temperature detection range of the operation occupant detection sensor 44. It has become. The signal from the operation occupant detection sensor 44 is also level-converted by the level conversion circuit 45 and input to the microcomputer 31.

FIG. 3 is an overall flowchart of the control executed by the microcomputer 31 when the automatic control state of the air conditioner is set by the AUTO switch 34.

Then, the microcomputer 31
The control of FIG. 3 is started in step S10 when G is turned on, and initial values such as various conversions and flags are set in step S20. In the next step S30, each of the sensors 39-4
4 and the operation signals of various switches 34 to 38 of the air-conditioning operation unit 33 are input.

In the next step S100, it is determined whether or not the air volume switch 37 has been operated by the occupant.
It is determined whether or not the air volume has been changed by the manual operation of the occupant.
ES) proceeds to step S150 to perform operation occupant determination and learning. The control in step S150 will be described later.

On the other hand, if there is no manual operation of the air volume (NO in step S100), the process proceeds to step S200. In this step S200, based on the sensor signal input in step S30, the target blowing temperature T of the air to be blown into the vehicle compartment is set.
AO is calculated according to the following equation (1). Here, TAO sets the set temperature TSET in the vehicle cabin regardless of changes in environmental conditions.
Is the air temperature required to maintain the In the following equation 1, KSET, KR, KAM, and KS are coefficients, and C is a constant.

[0029]

## EQU1 ## TAO = KSET × TSET-KR × TR-K
AM × TAM−KS × TS + C Next, the process proceeds to step S300, where the opening of the air mix damper 22b is calculated in accordance with the stored characteristics, and the actuator 18a is controlled via the drive circuit 32 so as to have this opening. The temperature of the air blown from the air outlet to the vehicle interior is controlled.

Next, the process proceeds to step S400, in which a blower voltage for determining the amount of air to be blown is calculated from the air volume characteristics shown in FIG. 4 based on the target blowing temperature TAO, and a voltage applied to the blower motor 14 via the drive circuit 32 (blower voltage). ) Control. Thus, the number of rotations of the blower fan 15 is controlled to control the amount of blown air blown into the vehicle interior.

Next, the process proceeds to step S500, where the inside / outside air introduction ratio of the inside / outside air switching door 12 is calculated according to the stored characteristics, and the inside / outside air switching door is controlled by controlling the actuator 12a via the drive circuit 32. 12
Is driven to a predetermined position.

Then, the process proceeds to a step S600, wherein the blow-out mode doors 20, 22, 24 according to the stored characteristics.
By controlling the actuator 25 via the drive circuit 32, the blowout mode doors 20, 22, and 24 are driven to predetermined positions.

Then, the process proceeds to a step S700, where a compressor (not shown) is controlled. After the process in step S700, the process returns to step S30, and the above process is repeated.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the details of the operation occupant determination / learning step S150 in FIG. 3. In this step S150, it is determined which occupant has operated the air volume changeover switch 37, The method of correcting the air volume control characteristic is determined according to the determination result.

The operation occupant detection sensor 44 is designed so that when the driver operates the air volume changeover switch 37, the driver's hand enters the temperature detection range of the operation occupant detection sensor 44. When the air volume change switch 37 is operated, the temperature of the driver's hand is detected by the operation occupant detection sensor 44. Therefore, in step S151 in FIG. 5, when the temperature detected by the operation occupant detection sensor 44 is about the skin temperature (for example, 34 ± 3 ° C.), it is determined that the driver has operated the air volume switching switch 37 ( Step S1
51 is YES), and proceeds to step S152.

In step S152, the operation of the air volume change switch 37 is learned, and the air volume control characteristic shown in FIG. 4 is corrected to suit the driver's preference. Then, after replacing the airflow control characteristics stored in the standby RAM 31b with the corrected airflow control characteristics, the process proceeds to step S200.

On the other hand, the passenger in the front passenger seat is
When the operator 7 is operated, the hand of the passenger in the front passenger seat does not enter the temperature detection range of the operation occupant detection sensor 44, so that the operation occupant detection sensor 44 causes a portion other than the hand (for example, the seat surface).
Is detected. Therefore, in step S151,
If the temperature detected by the operation occupant detection sensor 44 is apart from the skin temperature, the occupant in the front passenger seat switches the air volume change switch 3
7 is operated (Step S151 is N
O). As described above, when the occupant who operates the air volume switching switch 37 is not a driver, the process proceeds to step S200 without learning the operation.

Step S151 constitutes an operating occupant determining means for determining which seat the operating occupant is.

In this embodiment, it is determined whether or not the occupant who operated the air volume changeover switch 37 is a driver. If the operated occupant is not a driver, the operation is not learned and only the operation of the driver is performed. Since learning is performed, the air volume control characteristics can be made to suit the driver's preference.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment shown in FIG. 6 will be described. In the present embodiment, the driver air volume control characteristic and the passenger air volume control characteristic are set to the standby R
The contents of the operation occupant determination / learning step S150 in the first embodiment are partially changed accordingly, and other points are the same as those of the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 shows an operation occupant determination / learning step S15.
0 is a flowchart showing details of step S15.
In step 1, similarly to the first embodiment, it is determined whether or not the occupant operating the air volume changeover switch 37 is a driver (passenger seat occupant).

When the operated occupant is a driver (step S
151 is YES), the process proceeds to step S153, in which the operation of the air volume change switch 37 is learned, and the air volume control characteristic for the driver is corrected to meet the driver's preference. Then, after replacing the driver's air flow control characteristic stored in the standby RAM 31b with the corrected driver's air flow control characteristic, the process proceeds to step S200.

On the other hand, if the operated occupant is the passenger seat occupant (step S151: NO), the process proceeds to step S154, in which the operation of the air volume changeover switch 37 is learned, and the passenger air volume control characteristic is changed to the passenger seat occupant preference. Correct to match. Then, after replacing the passenger-side occupant airflow control characteristics stored in the standby RAM 31b with the corrected passenger-side occupant airflow control characteristics, the process proceeds to step S200.

Thereafter, in step S400 (see FIG. 3), the blower voltage obtained from the driver air flow control characteristic and the blower voltage obtained from the passenger air flow control characteristic are averaged, and the average blower voltage is obtained. Apply to the blower motor 14.

In the present embodiment, it is determined whether the occupant who operated the air volume changeover switch 37 is a driver or a passenger in the passenger seat, and the air volume control characteristics for the operated occupant are corrected. The preference of the passenger in the passenger seat can be reflected.

In the case of an air conditioner capable of independently controlling the driver-side airflow and the passenger-side airflow, the driver-side airflow is controlled based on the driver airflow control characteristics, and the passenger-side airflow control is performed. By controlling the passenger side air flow based on the characteristics, the air flow control characteristics can be made to suit the preferences of the driver and the passenger in the passenger seat.

(Other Embodiments) In the above embodiment, an example is shown in which an infrared temperature sensor is used as the operation occupant detection sensor 44, but a matrix infrared temperature sensor or a thermo-viewer may be used. In this case, an object (hand) having a detection value of about the skin temperature is moved from the driver's seat side to the air volume switching switch 3.
7 or from the passenger's seat side, and when approaching from the driver's seat side, it is determined that the driver has operated the air volume switching switch 37, and approaching from the passenger's seat side. In this case, it is determined that the passenger has operated the vehicle.

Further, the operating occupant detection sensor 44
A D (charge coupled device) camera may be used. In this case, the CCD camera is installed in such a direction that the driver can detect his / her hand when the driver operates the air volume changeover switch 37.

When the air volume switch 37 is operated, it is determined by image processing whether or not a hand approaches the air volume switch 37 from the driver's seat side.
If it is determined that the driver is approaching from the driver's seat side, it is assumed that the driver has operated the air volume switching switch 37. on the other hand,
If it cannot be determined that the vehicle is approaching from the driver's seat side, it is considered that the passenger on the passenger seat has operated.

In the above embodiment, the air flow rate is determined based only on the target air outlet temperature TAO. However, the present invention can be applied to a case where the internal air temperature, the external air temperature and the solar radiation amount are separately input to determine the air flow rate. is there. That is, when the air volume control characteristic is set based on the internal air temperature, the external air temperature, and the amount of solar radiation, the air volume control characteristic may be corrected by learning the occupant operation.

In the above embodiment, the operation occupant detection sensor 4
4 is provided in the air-conditioning operation section 33. However, if the driver's hand enters the temperature detection range of the operation occupant detection sensor 44 when the driver operates the air volume switching switch 37, the operation occupant The detection sensor 44 may be installed at another place.

In the above embodiment, the air flow rate changeover switch 3
If the occupant who operated 7 is not a driver, the operation is not learned. However, if the occupant that has operated is not a driver, the weight of the occupant operation is reduced and reflected in the learning. The air volume control characteristic may be corrected by making the correction amount smaller than when the operation is performed.

In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the air volume control characteristic among various air conditioning control characteristics is corrected in accordance with the operation of the occupant has been described. The present invention can be applied to such a case.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall system diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a specific configuration of an air-conditioning operation unit in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the entirety of the automatic air conditioning control according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an air volume control characteristic diagram used for describing the operation of the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating control of a main part of the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating control of a main part of the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

34 to 38: switches forming operation means, 39 to 43 ... sensors, S151: steps forming operation occupant determination means.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Toshifumi Kamiya 1-1-1, Showa-cho, Kariya-shi, Aichi Prefecture Inside Denso Corporation (72) Inventor Yuichi Kajino 1-1-1, Showa-cho, Kariya-shi, Aichi Prefecture Denso Corporation F-term (reference) 3L011 AU00

Claims (3)

[Claims] A sensor (39-43) for detecting information on environmental conditions related to an air-conditioning state in a vehicle interior; an operating means (34-38) operated by an occupant to set an air-conditioning state in the vehicle interior; A vehicle air conditioner that automatically controls an air conditioning state in the vehicle cabin based on the sensor output value and corrects a control characteristic for the automatic control based on an operation of the operation means (34 to 38); An operation occupant determination unit (S151) for determining which seat the operated occupant is when the operation unit (34 to 38) is operated, and a determination result of the operation occupant determination unit (S151) A method for correcting the control characteristic is determined in accordance with the following. 2. When the occupant operating the operating means (34-38) is an occupant of a predetermined seat, the control characteristic is corrected. When the occupant operated is other than the occupant of the predetermined seat, The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the control characteristic is not corrected. 3. The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined seat is a driver's seat.