JP2006347486A - Car heater using waste heat - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a car heater using waste heat capable of eliminating troubles by a convection type heating system while using waste heat of a car. <P>SOLUTION: A thermoelectric power generation element 11 is mounted on an engine 1a of a car 1. The thermoelectric power generation element 11 generates the electromotive force by the heat from the engine 1a. An electric heater 13 is connected to the thermoelectric power generation element 11 via a wiring 12, and the electric heater 13 generates heat by the power generated by the thermoelectric power generation element 11 to perform the heating in a cabin. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a heating apparatus that heats the interior of an automobile using waste heat generated from the automobile.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an automobile, a part of cooling water for an internal combustion engine is supplied to a heat exchanger, and the heat exchanged by the heat exchanger is blown into the room by a blower, thereby heating the room. In heating by blowing hot air, warm air tends to stay upward. Particularly in heating in a car, there are cases where driving is hindered, such as drowsiness when the head is warmed. Thus, various proposals have been made to maintain a good temperature distribution from the viewpoint of head cold foot heat. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses that air is blown out from the front part during heating and sucked from the ceiling and the rear suction port, and the inside air is sucked in and heated and blown out as warm air from the feet. It is disclosed to provide flow control.

On the other hand, in recent years, some electric vehicles have been put into practical use. In an electric vehicle, since a battery serving as a power source generates heat by charging and discharging, it is known that heating is performed using the battery as a heat source instead of the internal combustion engine. For example, Patent Document 2 discloses that room air is heated by sucking indoor air from an inlet, passing the air through a battery housing portion through a duct, and blowing the air heated thereby into the room again. Yes.
JP-A-6-115345 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-178070

  However, in the above-described conventional automotive heating device, as a result, it is heating using convection generated by blowing out warm air, so even if outside air introduced from outside the vehicle as in Patent Document 1, for example, The effect of head cold foot fever is difficult to obtain as expected. In addition, heating using convection has problems such as deteriorating the cleanliness of the room by rolling up dust and dust in the room, and deteriorating silence due to the operating sound of the blower.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an automotive heating device that uses the waste heat of an automobile and eliminates the adverse effects of convection heating.

  In order to achieve the above object, a heating device of the present invention is a heating device that heats the interior of an automobile, and is an energy that recovers energy from waste heat from the heat generating part attached in contact with the heat generating part of the automobile. It has a recovery means and a heating radiating means connected to the energy recovery means for heating the vehicle interior by radiant heat using the energy recovered by the energy recovery means.

  The heating device of the present invention has energy recovery means for recovering energy from the waste heat of the heat generating part of the automobile, and uses the recovered energy to perform heating by the heat radiating means. Heating is possible.

  As the energy recovery means, a thermoelectric power generation element or a heat pipe can be used. When a thermoelectric generator is used as the energy recovery means, an electric heater can be used as the heating heat dissipation means. When a heat pipe is used as the energy recovery means, a different heat pipe can be used as the heating heat dissipation means. In addition, by constructing the heating radiating means as a floor heater, it is easy to heat the head with cold head heat.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the heating by a radiant heat using the heat | fever from the heat generating part of a motor vehicle can be achieved with a very simple structure. By being able to achieve heating by radiant heat, it is possible to prevent dust and dust from rolling up in the passenger compartment and to perform quiet heating. In addition, since the heating heat dissipating means can be installed at an arbitrary position, the degree of freedom in design is improved and more effective and comfortable heating can be performed. In particular, by configuring the heating heat dissipating means as a floor heater, it is possible to easily realize the heating of the cold foot heat that does not interfere with the driving of the automobile.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an automobile provided with a heating device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a thermoelectric power generation element 11 is attached to the engine 1 a of the automobile 1. An electric heater 13 installed in the passenger compartment of the automobile 1 is electrically connected to the thermoelectric power generation element 11 via a wiring 12. The electric heater 13 includes a heating resistor that generates heat when a voltage is applied.

  When the thermoelectric power generation element 11 thermally bonds two different kinds of metals or different thermoelectric power generation materials of a p-type semiconductor and an n-type semiconductor in parallel and gives a temperature difference between the joints, an electromotive force is generated by the Seebeck effect. Is an element that generates As the thermoelectric power generation element 11, for example, the one having the configuration shown in FIG. 2 can be used. In FIG. 2, the thermoelectric power generation element 11 has a p-type semiconductor 111 and an n-type semiconductor 112 arranged in parallel via an insulating space, and one end of each semiconductor is joined at a high temperature side electrode 113 by a high temperature side electrode 113. The low temperature side junction has a configuration in which the low temperature side electrodes 114 and 115 are individually joined to the other ends of the p-type semiconductor 111 and the n-type semiconductor 112.

  The thermoelectric power generation element 11 has a high temperature side electrode 113 which is a high temperature side joint portion attached in close contact with the engine 1a, and heat from the engine 1a is applied to the high temperature side electrode 113. Thereby, in the thermoelectric power generation element 11, a temperature difference is generated between the high temperature side junction and the low temperature side junction. Since an electromotive force is generated between the low temperature side electrodes 114 and 115 due to this temperature difference, by connecting the electric heater 13 as a load between the low temperature side electrodes 114 and 115, a current flows through the wiring 12, and the electric heater 13 can be driven.

  The electric heater 13 is configured as a floor heater panel, for example. As the electric heater 13, a heater having a planar heating element can be preferably used. Moreover, it is preferable from the viewpoint of uniform heating that the surface of the planar heating element is covered with a soaking material.

  The planar heating element is not particularly limited, but from the viewpoint of durability, one using carbon fiber as a heating resistor can be preferably used. In addition, by using a planar heating element using carbon fiber as a heating resistor, an indoor heating effect by far-infrared radiation can be expected. The thickness of the planar heating element is preferably 2 mm or less, more preferably 0.8 mm or less. As such a planar heating element, for example, conductive fibers at both ends of a network structure formed by joining intersections of non-conductive fibers and conductive fibers as disclosed in JP-A-8-207191. And a fiber reinforced resin molded article in which a fiber reinforced prepreg sheet is laminated after being connected to the electrode.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the thermoelectric power generation element 11 is used as energy recovery means for recovering energy from the waste heat of the engine 1a, and the electric heater 13 is driven by the electric power obtained by the thermoelectric power generation element 11, The vehicle interior is heated by radiant heat from the electric heater 13. Thereby, the waste heat from the engine 1a can be used for heating with an extremely simple configuration, and the energy can be effectively used. Moreover, the heating by the electric heater 13 is a heating using radiant heat and does not raise dust and dust unlike the heating by hot air, so that the cleanliness of the passenger compartment is not impaired and a blower is unnecessary. There is no drive noise of the blower, and the quietness in the passenger compartment is high. Furthermore, since the heating is based on the radiant heat from the floor, the head cold foot heating is easily realized, and a comfortable heating is achieved.

  In this embodiment, the case where one thermoelectric power generation element 11 is used has been described as an example. However, a plurality of thermoelectric power generation elements 11 are connected in series, in parallel, or in series according to the driving voltage and power consumption of the connected electric heater 13. Can be combined and connected in parallel. Further, the thermoelectric power generation element 11 is attached to the engine 1a, and the heating device always functions while the engine 1a is operating. Therefore, it is preferable to provide a control means for controlling energization to the electric heater 13 according to the temperature of the electric heater 13 so that the electric heater 13 is not overheated by controlling the temperature of the electric heater 13. As such a control means, a configuration in which a temperature sensor (not shown) is attached to the electric heater 13 and a control unit that controls energization to the electric heater 13 according to the temperature of the electric heater 13 is provided. In addition, a thermostat (not shown) may be attached instead of the temperature sensor, and energization to the electric heater 13 can be controlled by this thermostat. Furthermore, it is preferable to provide a switch for switching between energization and de-energization of the electric heater 13 in the electric circuit from the thermoelectric generator 11 to the electric heater 13 when it is not necessary to use heating such as in summer. In this case, the switch is arranged at a position where the driver can operate.

  In FIG. 3, the schematic diagram of the motor vehicle which installed the heating apparatus by other embodiment of this invention is shown.

  As shown in FIG. 3, in this embodiment, a heat transfer heat pipe 21 and a heating heat pipe 22 are used as the energy recovery means and the heating heat dissipation means, respectively.

  Both the heat transfer heat pipe 21 and the heating heat pipe 22 have the same structure. These are collectively called simply a heat pipe, and the structure of the heat pipe will be described below.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the heat pipe includes a pipe body 25 whose both ends are sealed, and a working fluid (not shown) sealed in the pipe body 25. A capillary structure called a wick 26 is formed on the inner peripheral wall of the pipe body 25 over the axial direction of the pipe body 25. The pipe body 25 is made of a metal having good thermal conductivity such as copper or an alloy thereof. The wick 26 can be configured by forming a plurality of grooves on the inner peripheral wall surface of the pipe body 25 or attaching a large number of wires and meshes. As the hydraulic fluid, a condensable fluid such as water, alcohol, or ammonia is used, and the hydraulic fluid is enclosed in an amount that is completely vaporized by heat applied to the heat transfer heat pipe 21. In the heat transfer heat pipe 21, one end side functions as an evaporation unit 27 and the other end side functions as a condensing unit 28.

  When the evaporation unit 27 is heated, the working liquid evaporates in the evaporation unit 27. The vapor generated by the evaporation moves to the condensing unit 28 and is condensed by releasing heat in the condensing unit 28. Due to the condensation of the hydraulic fluid, heat is transported from the evaporator 27 to the condenser 28 as latent heat of the hydraulic fluid. The condensed hydraulic fluid returns to the evaporation unit 27 through the wick 26. The returned hydraulic fluid is evaporated again by the evaporation unit 27, and the series of operations described above is repeated.

  The above is the configuration of the heat pipe. The heat transfer heat pipe 21 is attached with the evaporation portion 27 in contact with the engine 1a. A plurality of heating heat pipes 22 are attached in contact with the condensing portion 28 of the heat transfer heat pipe 21. Each heating heat pipe 22 is disposed in parallel with the evaporation section 27 in contact with the heat transfer heat pipe 21, and constitutes a heat generating section of the heating panel 23. The heating panel 23 is configured as a floor heater, and can be provided with a soaking material (not shown) on the upper surface or a heat insulating material (not shown) on the lower surface as necessary.

  According to the heating device of the present embodiment described above, the heat of the engine 1a is transported to each heating heat pipe 22 by the heat transfer heat pipe 21, and the heating panel 23 is heated by heating each heating heat pipe 22. Heating is performed. In this way, by performing heating using the heat transport function of the heat pipe, the heat of the engine 1a, which is waste heat, can be used for heating with a very simple configuration, and energy can be effectively used. Moreover, the heating by the heating heat pipe 22 is heating using radiant heat, and as in the above-described embodiment, the comfortable heating that realizes the cold head heat without impairing the cleanliness of the vehicle interior and high quietness. Achieved. Note that the evaporation of the heat transfer heat pipe 21 is suppressed in order to suppress a decrease in heat transport efficiency due to heat radiation between the evaporation unit 27 and the condensation unit 28 in the heat transfer path of the heat transfer heat pipe 21. It is preferable to cover the outer periphery of the heat transfer heat pipe 21 with a heat insulating material between the portion 27 and the condensing portion 28.

  In the present embodiment, the heating panel 23 having a plurality of heating heat pipes 22 is described as an example, but the configuration of the heating panel 23 is not limited thereto. For example, a plate-like heat pipe can be used, and furthermore, heating means can be used as appropriate as long as the heating can be performed using heat transported by the heat transfer heat pipe 21. .

  Further, in the present embodiment, the heat transfer heat pipe 21 is attached to the engine 1a, and the heating device always functions while the engine 1a is operating. Accordingly, in the present embodiment, similarly to the above-described embodiment, a control unit that controls the operation of the heating device according to the temperature of the heating panel 23 can be provided, or the operation of the heating device can be stopped when heating is not used such as in summer. It is preferable to do so.

  The simplest means for controlling the operation of the heating device is to separate the engine 1a from the heat transfer heat pipe 21 so that the heat of the engine 1a is not easily transmitted to the heat transfer heat pipe 21. When the heat transfer heat pipe 21 contacts or separates from the engine 1a, the heating device is switched between operation and stop.

  For this purpose, for example, the heat transfer heat pipe 21 is provided so as to be movable between a position where the evaporation portion 27 contacts the engine 1a and a position away from the engine 1a, and heat transfer heat within the moving range. A moving mechanism for moving the pipe 21 may be provided. Alternatively, the heat transfer heat pipe 21 is installed away from the engine 1a in advance, and the heat transfer has a thickness sufficient to be tightly sandwiched between the engine 1a and the heat transfer heat pipe 21. A spacer made of a metal having good thermal conductivity similar to the pipe body 25 of the heat pipe 21 is provided in the space between the engine 1a and the heat transfer heat pipe 21 so as to enter and leave the space, and the spacer is moved. It is good also as a structure which provided the moving mechanism. In the latter case, in a state where the spacer enters between the engine 1a and the heat transfer heat pipe 21, the engine 1a and the heat transfer heat pipe 21 are in contact with each other via the spacer. Heat is transferred to the heat transfer heat pipe 21 through the spacer. In either case of the above two examples, in the state where the heat transfer heat pipe 21 is separated from the engine 1a, the engine 1a and the heat transfer heat pipe 21 are used to block the radiant heat from the engine 1a. A heat insulating material may be interposed between the two.

  In addition, each means for switching the operation | movement of the heating apparatus mentioned above is applicable similarly when a thermoelectric power generation element is used as an energy recovery means.

  The present invention has been described above with some examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples, and can be appropriately changed within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.

  For example, in the present embodiment, an example in which the heat radiating means is configured as a floor heater has been shown, but in addition, a heater built in the seat, a heater built in the door, or a combination thereof, It can be set as a heater of the form. According to the present invention, the heat dissipating means for heating can be installed at any position according to its purpose, function, etc., so that the degree of freedom in design is improved and more effective and comfortable heating is achieved. Is done. On the other hand, in the heating by the conventional hot air blowing, the layout of the hot air piping and the blowing outlet is limited.

  Moreover, although the example which attached the energy recovery means to the engine 1a was shown in this embodiment, if the site | part to which an energy recovery means is attached is a site | part which becomes higher than ambient temperature, such as what itself generate | occur | produces heat, Any part is acceptable. Examples of such a part include a radiator and a muffler in addition to the engine 1a.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, although the example applied to what has the engine 1a which is an internal combustion engine as the motor vehicle 1 was shown, this invention is an electric vehicle which uses an electric motor as a power source, the engine which is an internal combustion engine, and an electric motor. The present invention can also be applied to a hybrid vehicle combined with a motor. The electric vehicle includes a secondary battery, a fuel cell, or both as means for supplying electric power to the electric motor. Secondary batteries generate heat during charging and discharging, and fuel cells generate heat during power generation. Therefore, in an electric vehicle, the vehicle interior can be heated in the same manner as in the above-described embodiment by attaching the energy recovery means to the secondary battery or the fuel cell. In the hybrid vehicle, the energy recovery means may be attached to the engine, may be attached to a battery that supplies power to the electric motor, or may be attached to both.

It is a schematic diagram of the motor vehicle which installed the heating apparatus by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a typical block diagram of the thermoelectric power generation element shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram of the motor vehicle which installed the heating apparatus by other embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing cut | disconnected along the axial direction of the heat pipe shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Automobile 1a Engine 11 Thermoelectric power generation element 12 Wiring 13 Electric heater 21 Heat transfer pipe 22 Heating heat pipe 23 Heating panel 25 Pipe body 26 Wick 27 Evaporating part 28 Condensing part 111 P type semiconductor 112 N type semiconductor 113 High temperature side electrode 114,115 Low temperature side electrode

Claims (7)

A heating device for heating the interior of a car,
An energy recovery means for recovering energy from waste heat from the heat generating part, attached in contact with the heat generating part of the automobile;
A heating apparatus having heating heat radiation means for heating the vehicle interior by radiant heat using energy recovered by the energy recovery means, connected to the energy recovery means.   The heating device according to claim 1, wherein the energy recovery means includes at least one thermoelectric power generation element, and the heating heat dissipation means includes an electric heater electrically connected to the thermoelectric power generation element.   The heating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the energy recovery means and the heat dissipating means has a heat pipe.   The heating apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a switch that switches between energization and non-energization of the electric heater.   The heating device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the energy recovery means is provided so as to be capable of contacting and separating from the heat generating portion.   The heating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the heat dissipating means is a floor heater.   The heating device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising control means for controlling the operation of the heating heat dissipation means in accordance with the temperature of the heating heat dissipation means.

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