JP2004175143A - Air-conditioner for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air-conditioner for a vehicle capable of sending the air containing anti-bacterial ions into the cabin by generating the anti-bacterial ions when the weather is rainy. <P>SOLUTION: The air-conditioner for the vehicle includes an auto air-conditioner amplifier 30 in which the RAIN flag is set to 1 when the output signal of a wiper sensor 41 gives judgement that a wiper is actuated within a specified time after an ignition switch is put on. Then the operation of the air-conditioner AC is started, and when judgement is passed that the value of the RAIN flag is 1, a signal is emitted to order an ion supplying device 16 to generate plus ions having anti-bacterial effect. If judgement is passed that the blowing-out is made in VENT mode in which the wind blows out only from a vent hole 17 under the air-conditioning operation conditions computed on the basis of the condition signals of a group 35 of thermal load sensors and operation switches, not illustrated, the by-level mode (B/L) is set in which the wind blows out of the vent hole 17 and a foot hole 23. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a vehicle air conditioner that can blow air containing ions into a vehicle cabin.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art There is known an air purifying device for a vehicle that can purify air in a vehicle compartment or sterilize the vehicle compartment by generating ozone and ions. (See Patent Document 1).
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-2002-2268
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In general, the greater the amount of generated positive ions, the higher the sterilization effect, and the larger the amount of negative ions generated, the higher the cleaning effect. Therefore, the positive ions may be referred to as sterilizing ions and the negative ions may be referred to as cleaning ions. However, in the conventional vehicle air purifying device, it was not possible to send the sterilizing ions and the cleaning ions separately due to the weather and the like, and thus, for example, when the passenger compartment gets wet due to the getting on and off of the occupant in rainy weather. It was not possible to appropriately control the growth of various bacteria that propagated in the vegetation.
[0005]
The present invention provides a vehicle air conditioner capable of generating sterilizing ions in response to rainy weather and blowing air containing the sterilizing ions into a vehicle interior.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention is a blower fan that blows inside air or outside air into a vehicle interior, an outlet that blows out blast air blown from the blower fan into the vehicle interior, and an ion generator that generates at least sterilization ions. A rain judging means for judging whether or not it is in a rain state, and a control for controlling the ion generating means such that when the rain judging means judges that it is in a rain state, the blast air containing the sterilized ions is blown into the vehicle interior. Means.
[0007]
【The invention's effect】
When the vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention is determined to be in a rainy state, the air-conditioning air containing the sterilization ions is blown into the vehicle interior. Thereby, in a high humidity condition such as rainy weather, the amount of germs generated in the vehicle cabin can be suppressed by the air-conditioning air containing the disinfecting ions.
[0008]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
---overall structure---
An embodiment of a vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a vehicle air conditioner AC according to an embodiment. The vehicle air conditioner AC includes, in its case 10, a blower motor 12 for driving a fan 11, an evaporator 13 for dehumidifying and cooling air blown by the fan 11, and a blown air dehumidified and cooled by the evaporator 13. The apparatus includes a heater core 14 for heating, an air mix door 15 for adjusting the air distribution ratio to the heater core 14, and an ion supply device 16 for generating negative ions as cleaning ions and positive ions as sterilization ions. The blown air pressurized and blown by the fan 11 driven by the blower motor 12 controlled by the voltage passes through the evaporator 13 and is dehumidified and cooled. The air that has passed through the evaporator 13 is distributed to air that passes through the heater core 14 and air that does not pass through the heater core 14 at an air distribution ratio determined by the air mix door 15. The air distributed by the air mixing door and passing through the heater core 14 and the air not passing through the heater core 14 merge again downstream of the heater core 14 and are supplied into the vehicle cabin together with the ions generated by the ion supply device 16.
[0009]
The vehicle air conditioner AC is connected to a vent port 17 provided on an instrument panel of the vehicle and a vent port 17 for distributing conditioned air containing ions generated by the ion supply device 16 into the vehicle. Vent duct 19, a vent door 18 for opening and closing the vent duct 19, a differential opening 20, a differential duct 22 connected to the differential opening 20, a differential door 21 for opening and closing the differential duct 22, a foot opening 23, and a foot opening 23. And a foot door 24 that opens and closes the foot duct 25.
[0010]
As shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle air conditioner AC includes an automatic air conditioner amplifier 30 and various heat load sensor groups 35 for detecting a heat load of the vehicle air conditioner AC. The automatic air-conditioning amplifier 30 calculates the air-conditioning operation conditions based on the information from the thermal load sensor group 35 so that the temperature in the passenger compartment becomes the set temperature set by the occupant. Based on the calculated air-conditioning operation conditions, the auto air-conditioner amplifier 30 controls the voltage VF of the blower motor 12 so as to obtain a predetermined air volume, and also controls the opening degree M of the air mix door 15 and the opening degree of each of the doors 18, 21, and 24. Control the degree. The auto air conditioner amplifier 30 controls the type of ions generated from the ion supply device 16 such as generating only negative ions or positive ions from the ion supply device 16 or generating both negative ions and positive ions. .
[0011]
The opening M of the air mix door 15 and the voltage VF of the blower motor 12 are represented by the following equations.
(Equation 1)
M = f1 (Tw, Tam, Tin, Ts, Tptc, Q) (1)
(Equation 2)
VF = f2 (M) (2)
Here, Tw is the engine outlet water temperature, Tam is the outside air temperature, Tin is the vehicle interior temperature, Ts is the fan intake air temperature, Tptc is the vehicle set temperature, and Q is the amount of solar radiation. These are the heat of the vehicle air conditioner. This is a parameter related to load.
When M is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the air mix door 15 is fully opened.
[0012]
Further, the vehicle air conditioner AC includes a wiper sensor 41 for detecting an operation of the wiper, a seating sensor 42 for detecting the presence or absence of an occupant, a door opening / closing sensor 43 for detecting opening / closing of a vehicle door, and a lock state of the vehicle door. , And an ignition sensor 45 for detecting the state of the ignition switch. As will be described later, a signal from the wiper sensor 41, that is, an output signal that detects the presence or absence of the operation of the wiper, is used to determine whether or not there is rainfall. The output signals of the seat sensor 42, the door opening / closing sensor 43, and the door lock sensor 44 are used to determine whether the occupant gets on or off. As described above, each of the sensors 41 to 45 detects the state of the vehicle, and outputs an output signal as a detection result to the auto air conditioner amplifier 30.
[0013]
In the vehicle air conditioner AC having the above-described configuration, the voltage (rotation speed) of the blower motor 12 and the opening of the air mix door 15 and the doors 18, 21, and 24 are controlled by the auto air conditioner amplifier 30, so that the interior of the vehicle interior reaches the set temperature. The air-conditioned air whose air volume and temperature are adjusted to be as appropriate is blown into the vehicle interior. As will be described later, the vehicle air conditioner AC generates positive ions from the ion supply device 16 when the vehicle gets on and off in rainy weather and supplies the positive ions together with the conditioned air into the vehicle interior. The details will be described below.
[0014]
――― Operation of vehicle air conditioner AC ―――
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of a program for determining whether or not the occupant got on the vehicle when it was raining. The program shown in FIG. This program starts operation when a door lock release signal is output from the door lock sensor 44. In step S1, it is determined from the output signal of the seating sensor 42 whether or not the occupant has already boarded. If the determination in step S1 is affirmative, the operation of this program ends. If a negative determination is made in step S1, the process proceeds to step S3, and waits until the door is opened based on the output signal of the door open / close sensor 43. When step S3 is affirmatively determined, the process proceeds to step S5, and waits until the door is closed based on the output signal of the door open / close sensor 43. If step S5 is affirmatively determined, the process proceeds to step S7, and it is determined from the output signal of the seating sensor 42 whether or not the occupant is seated.
[0015]
If a negative determination is made in step S7, the process returns to step S3. When step S7 is affirmatively determined, the process proceeds to step S9, and waits until the ignition switch is turned ON based on the output signal of the ignition sensor 45. When step S9 is affirmatively determined, the process proceeds to step S11, a timer is started, and the process proceeds to step S13. In step S13, the process stands by until the timer started in step S11 times out. When step S13 is affirmatively determined, the process proceeds to step S15, and it is determined from the output signal of the wiper sensor 41 whether or not the wiper is operating. If an affirmative determination is made in step S15, the process proceeds to step S17, in which the RAIN flag is set to 1, and the program ends. If a negative determination is made in step S15, the process proceeds to step S19, in which the RAIN flag is set to 0, and the program ends.
[0016]
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the air conditioning operation program executed by the vehicle air conditioner AC. 4 is executed by the auto air conditioner amplifier 30. When the ignition switch is turned on and the air-conditioning switch (not shown) is turned on in a state where power is supplied to the automatic air-conditioning amplifier 30 of the vehicle air conditioner AC, the program in FIG. 4 starts operating. In step S100, the previous operation state of the vehicle air conditioner AC stored in the memory (not shown) of the auto air conditioner amplifier 30 is read, and the process proceeds to step S200. In step S200, the air blown based on the operating state of the vehicle air conditioner AC stored in the memory read out in step S100 and the state signals of the heat load sensor group 35 and the operation switches (not shown) such as the air volume and the set temperature. Is calculated.
[0017]
In step S300, the opening degree M of the air mix door 15 corresponding to the blowing temperature calculated in step S200 is calculated based on the above equation (1), and the process proceeds to step S400. In step S400, the voltage VF (target blower motor voltage) of the blower motor 12 is calculated based on the equation (2), and the process proceeds to a subroutine of step S500. In the subroutine of step S500, the outlet is determined based on the M and VF calculated in each step, the inputs from the heat load sensor group 35 and the sensors 41 to 45, and the state signals of the operation switches (not shown). The opening degree of each of the doors 18, 21, and 24 is calculated and corrected in such a manner as to perform the process, and the process proceeds to step S600. In step S600, the operation of the vehicle air conditioner AC is started based on the result calculated in each step, and the process returns to step S100.
[0018]
――― Operation of vehicle air conditioner AC (when riding on rainy weather) ―――
When the occupant gets on the vehicle in rainy weather, the area under the occupant's feet in the vehicle compartment gets wet because the occupants' feet are wet. Therefore, the carpet under the occupant is in an environment where bacteria can easily propagate. Therefore, in the vehicle air conditioner AC, as will be described later, when the occupant gets on the vehicle in rainy weather, air-conditioning air containing positive ions having a disinfecting effect is blown near the feet of the occupant to propagate germs. Suppress.
[0019]
FIG. 5 shows a part of the subroutine of step S500 in the flowchart shown in FIG. That is, it is a flowchart showing an operation of a program for blowing conditioned air containing positive ions having a disinfecting effect near the feet of the occupant when the occupant gets on the vehicle in rainy weather. In step S501, the outlet is determined based on the calculation results in steps S300 and S400 of the main routine, the input from the thermal load sensor group 35 and the sensors 41 to 45, and the state signal of each operation switch (not shown). , The opening of each of the doors 18, 21, 24 is calculated. In step S503, it is determined whether the value of the RAIN flag determined in steps S17 and S19 of FIG. If the determination in step S503 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S505, where a signal is output to the ion supply device 16 to generate positive ions, and the process proceeds to step S507. In step S507, as a result of the calculation in step S501, it is determined whether or not the vent mode (VENT) in which the outlet for blowing out the conditioned air is the vent port 17 only. If the determination in step S507 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S509, sets the bi-level mode (B / L) in which the vents for blowing out the conditioned air are the vent 17 and the foot 23, and returns to the main routine. If a negative determination is made in step S503 or a negative determination is made in step S507, the calculation in step S501 is performed, and then the process returns to the main routine.
[0020]
According to the subroutine of step S500 described above, when the vehicle air conditioner AC determines that it is rainy when the occupant gets on the vehicle, the vehicle air conditioner AC supplies conditioned air including positive ions to the vehicle interior. When the blowing mode is not the mode in which the air is blown from the foot opening 23 under the occupant's feet, that is, in the vent mode, the bi-level mode is set so that the air is also blown from the foot opening 23.
[0021]
――― Operation of vehicle air conditioner AC (when raining off) ―――
In the vehicle air conditioner AC, even after the occupant gets off the vehicle in rainy weather, conditioned air containing positive ions having a disinfection effect is blown near the occupant's feet for a certain period of time.
[0022]
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of a program for blowing air-conditioned air containing positive ions having a disinfecting effect near the feet of the occupant for a certain period of time even after the occupant gets off in rainy weather. The program shown in FIG. This program starts operation when a signal indicating that the ignition switch is turned off is output from the ignition sensor 45. In step S31, it waits until the occupant gets off from the output signal of the seat sensor 42. When step S31 is affirmatively determined, the process proceeds to step S33, and waits until a signal indicating that the door is locked is output from the output signal of the door lock sensor 44.
[0023]
If the determination in step S33 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S35, in which it is determined whether the value of the RAIN flag determined in steps S17 and S19 in FIG. If step S35 is affirmatively determined, the process proceeds to step S37, in which a signal is output to the ion supply device 16 to generate positive ions, and the process proceeds to step S39. In step S39, the blower motor voltage VF is set to the maximum value, and the process proceeds to step S41. In step S41, the blowing mode is set to the foot mode (FOOT) in which the blowing port is only the foot opening 23, and the process proceeds to step S43. In step S43, in the blower motor voltage VF set to the maximum value in step S39 and the foot mode set in step S41, the operation of the vehicle air conditioner AC is started under the set temperature condition immediately before the ignition switch is turned off. Proceed to S45. In step S45, a timer is started and the process proceeds to step S47. In step S47, the process stands by until the timer started in step S45 expires. If step S47 is affirmatively determined, the process proceeds to step S49, in which the operation of the vehicle air conditioner AC is stopped, and the program ends. In addition, if a negative determination is made in step S35, the present program is terminated.
[0024]
By the operation of the above-described program, the vehicle air conditioner AC blows the conditioned air containing positive ions having a disinfecting effect from the foot port 23 at the maximum air volume for a certain period of time after the occupant gets off in rainy weather.
[0025]
According to the vehicle air conditioner described above, the following operation and effect can be obtained.
(1) If the wiper operates within a certain period of time after the occupant gets on the vehicle, it is determined that it is raining, and the air-conditioned air containing positive ions is blown into the vehicle interior. Thus, the amount of germs in the vehicle compartment can be reduced by air-conditioning air containing positive ions, which is said to be effective for disinfection in high humidity conditions such as rainy weather.
(2) When the occupant gets on the vehicle in rainy weather and judges that the feet of the occupant are wet, the air-conditioning air containing positive ions is directed toward the vicinity of the feet of the occupant, which is particularly wet and tends to propagate germs during rainy weather. To blow. Thereby, the generation amount in the vehicle interior can be effectively suppressed.
(3) If the occupant gets on the vehicle in rainy weather and determines that the occupant's feet are wet, the conditioned air containing positive ions is blown from the foot opening 23 at the maximum air volume for a certain period of time after the occupant gets off the vehicle. In this way, the air-conditioning air containing positive ions can be blown at the maximum flow rate intensively in the vicinity of the feet of the occupant where the germs are likely to grow, especially when it is wet, so that the germicidal removal time can be reduced. Further, by controlling the operation time by the timer, unnecessary power consumption can be avoided.
[0026]
In the above description, when it is determined that the feet of the occupant in the rain are wet, and when the blowing mode is the vent mode, the blowing mode is set to the bi-level mode, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the foot mode may be set. Also, when it is determined that the feet of the occupant who got on in the rainy weather are wet, when the number of blowing locations increases due to the change of the blowing mode, for example, when the blowing mode which was the vent mode is set to the bi-level mode, The blower motor 12 may be controlled so as to increase the amount of blown air. In this case, the blower motor voltage VF calculated by the equation (2) may be set to increase at a constant rate. Further, when the blowing mode before the change is the bi-level mode, for example, the opening degrees of the vent door 18 and the foot door 24 may be changed in order to increase the air volume from the foot opening 23. In the above description, when it is determined that the feet of the occupant who got on in rainy weather are wet, the balloon mode is changed, but the balloon mode is not necessarily changed.
[0027]
In the above description, when it is determined that the feet of the occupant who got on the vehicle in rainy weather are wet, the conditioned air containing positive ions is blown into the vehicle interior, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it is determined whether or not the feet of the occupant who got on in rainy weather are wet.If the determination is affirmative, the air-conditioning air containing positive ions is blown into the vehicle cabin. Air-conditioned air can be blown into the cabin. If the above-mentioned determination is affirmative, conditioned air containing negative ions and positive ions may be blown into the passenger compartment, or these may be used in an appropriate combination.
[0028]
In the above embodiment and its modifications, for example, the ion supply unit is realized by the ion supply device 16 and the control unit is realized by the auto air conditioner amplifier 30, respectively. The rainfall determination means is realized by, for example, the auto air conditioner amplifier 30 and the wiper sensor 41. The getting-off detection means is realized by, for example, the auto air conditioner amplifier 30, the seat sensor 42, and the door lock sensor 44. Note that the present invention is not limited to the device configuration in the above-described embodiment, as long as the characteristic functions of the present invention are not impaired.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an embodiment of a vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a system block diagram of the vehicle air conditioner AC of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of a program executed in the vehicle air conditioner AC of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of a program executed in the vehicle air conditioner AC of FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of the flowchart shown in FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation of a program executed by the vehicle air conditioner AC of FIG. 1;
[Explanation of symbols]
10 Case 11 Fan 12 Blower Motor 13 Evaporator 14 Heater Core 15 Air Mix Door 16 Ion Supply Device 17 Vent Port 18 Vent Door 20 Differential Port 21 Differential Door 23 Foot Port 24 Foot Door 30 Auto Air Conditioner Amplifier 35 Thermal Load Sensor Group 41 Wiper Sensor 42 Seating Sensor 43 Door Open / Close Sensor 44 Door lock sensor 45 Ignition sensor

Claims (3)

A blower fan that blows inside or outside air into the cabin,
An outlet for blowing out blast air blown from the blower fan into the vehicle interior,
Ion generating means for generating at least sterilization ions,
Rain determination means for determining whether or not it is in a rain state,
A vehicle air conditioner, comprising: a control unit that controls the ion generating unit so that the blast air containing sterilizing ions is blown into the vehicle compartment when the rain determination unit determines that it is in a rain state. apparatus. The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1,
The outlet includes a foot outlet provided at least near the feet of the occupant,
The control means controls the underfoot outlet so that the blast air containing sterilizing ions is blown into the vehicle compartment also from the underfoot outlet when the rain determination unit determines that the rainfall state is present. Characteristic vehicle air conditioner. The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 2,
The vehicle further includes a get-off detection unit that detects a get-off of the occupant,
The control means, when it is determined that the rain is determined by the rainfall determination means, and when the occupant detects that the occupant got off by the get-off detection means, the blast air containing sterilization ions for a predetermined time from the foot outlet. An air conditioner for a vehicle, wherein the ion generating means and the foot outlet are controlled so that air is blown into the vehicle interior.

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