JP2009280038A - Air-conditioning device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air-conditioning device for a vehicle reducing a sending amount of air-conditioned air from the side of an instrument panel to the inside of a vehicle cabin as much as possible, and adjusting a temperature inside the cabin quickly to a comfortable temperature while appropriately securing a cooling capacity in other sections. <P>SOLUTION: In the air-conditioning device for the vehicle, a primary coolant/secondary coolant heat exchanger exchanging heat between a primary coolant and a secondary coolant which is different from the primary coolant, is provided in a primary coolant circuit provided with a compressor, a condenser, a depression-expansion means, and an evaporator. A secondary coolant circuit for circulating the secondary coolant is formed in a coolant circulating form independent from the primary coolant circuit. A secondary coolant/inside-cabin air heat exchanger exchanging heat between the secondary coolant and air inside the cabin is provided in the secondary coolant circuit. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle air conditioner, and more particularly, to a vehicle air conditioner that can appropriately cool a passenger compartment while reducing the amount of conditioned air that directly hits an occupant.

  In a vehicle air conditioner mounted on an automobile, usually, one refrigerant circuit for cooling the passenger compartment is provided, and air sent through an air duct is converted into a refrigerant evaporator provided in the refrigerant circuit. The conditioned air is cooled by heat exchange between the two, and the cooled conditioned air is sent out into the vehicle compartment through the outlet. In many cases, the air outlet for the conditioned air is disposed at least on an instrument panel located in front of the driver's seat.

  However, in the vehicle air conditioner as described above, when the conditioned air blown directly hits the occupant during cooling, the occupant may be uncomfortable. In particular, when the temperature is high, it is necessary to send a large amount of conditioned air to the passenger compartment in order to quickly cool the passenger compartment to a comfortable temperature, and the amount of conditioned air that directly hits the passenger increases. Increased likelihood of discomfort.

In order to solve such problems, many attempts have been made to reduce the amount of conditioned air that directly hits the occupant and adjust the passenger compartment to a comfortable temperature as quickly as possible. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a condition in which a delivery port for supplying conditioned air to the passenger compartment is formed not only in the instrument panel located in front of the driver's seat, but also in the upper part of the passenger compartment, and blown out from the upper part of the passenger compartment. A structure has been proposed in which the amount of conditioned air delivered from the instrument panel is reduced as much as possible by automatically adjusting the air flow and the amount of blowout. However, in such a structure, the conditioned air path is branched, and the conditioned air is sent from both the instrument panel and the upper part of the passenger compartment to the passenger compartment. Difficult to apply. In an automobile with a small passenger compartment, the conditioned air supplied from the instrument panel and the conditioned air supplied from the upper part of the passenger compartment may both hit the passenger. In such a case, the conditioned air that directly hits the passenger. This does not necessarily reduce the amount, and limits the effect of suppressing the discomfort.
JP 2000-203255 A

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to reduce the amount of conditioned air sent from the instrument panel side to the vehicle interior as much as possible in cooling the vehicle interior air, and to appropriately secure the cooling capacity in other parts to ensure the interior of the vehicle interior. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle air conditioner that can be quickly adjusted to a comfortable temperature.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention includes a compressor that compresses a refrigerant, a condenser that condenses the compressed refrigerant, and a decompression / expansion unit that decompresses and expands the condensed refrigerant. And an evaporator capable of evaporating the decompressed and expanded refrigerant and capable of exchanging heat with the air sent into the passenger compartment, so that the refrigerant from the evaporator is returned to the compressor. In a vehicle air conditioner having a refrigerant circuit that circulates the refrigerant, the refrigerant is a primary refrigerant, the refrigerant circuit is a primary refrigerant circuit, and the primary refrigerant and the primary refrigerant are separated from each other in the primary refrigerant circuit. A primary refrigerant / secondary refrigerant heat exchanger capable of exchanging heat with the secondary refrigerant, forming a secondary refrigerant circuit for circulating the secondary refrigerant, and in the secondary refrigerant circuit, Secondary refrigerant / vehicle compartment capable of heat exchange between secondary refrigerant and passenger compartment air Consisting of those characterized by providing the air heat exchanger. That is, instead of the conventional conditioned air branch path structure, a secondary refrigerant circuit is newly installed and used for vehicle interior air conditioning.

  In such a vehicle air conditioner, an evaporator that can exchange heat between the primary refrigerant and the air sent into the vehicle interior is provided in the primary refrigerant circuit, as in the conventional structure. A secondary refrigerant circuit capable of circulating the secondary refrigerant independently of the primary refrigerant circuit is formed, and in the secondary refrigerant circuit, a secondary refrigerant / A cabin air heat exchanger is provided. Therefore, while the conditioned air cooled by the evaporator of the primary refrigerant circuit is blown out from the instrument panel side to the vehicle interior as in the conventional case, the instrument panel is operated by the secondary refrigerant / vehicle interior air heat exchanger of the secondary refrigerant circuit. It is possible to cool the air inside the vehicle at a location away from the vehicle and reduce the amount of conditioned air blown from the instrument panel side by at least the cooling capacity of the secondary refrigerant / vehicle air heat exchanger. It is possible to reduce the amount of conditioned air that directly hits and prevent discomfort. Since the secondary refrigerant circuit is a refrigerant circuit independent of the primary refrigerant circuit, it is necessary to adopt a heat exchange mode between the delivery (blowing) air and the heat exchanger (evaporator) as in the primary refrigerant circuit. No, it is also possible to cause heat exchange with the air that is present in the passenger compartment and is not basically flowed by the secondary refrigerant / vehicle compartment air heat exchanger. Particularly in such a form, it becomes possible to greatly reduce the amount of conditioned air blown out from the instrument panel while maintaining the cooling capacity of the entire vehicle interior, and uncomfortable feeling caused by the conditioned air directly hitting the passenger Granting can be suppressed more effectively. Furthermore, since the secondary refrigerant circuit and the primary refrigerant circuit are independent refrigerant circuits, it is possible to circulate only the secondary refrigerant in the secondary refrigerant circuit, for example, when idling is stopped. It becomes possible to effectively use the heat capacity of the cooled secondary refrigerant.

  In such a vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention, the arrangement position of the primary refrigerant / secondary refrigerant heat exchanger in the primary refrigerant circuit is not particularly limited. It is preferably arranged between the provided evaporator and the compressor. By arranging the primary refrigerant / secondary refrigerant heat exchanger between the evaporator and the compressor, it is possible to perform efficient heat exchange between the primary refrigerant and the secondary refrigerant vaporized by the evaporator. Thus, the secondary refrigerant can be efficiently cooled.

  In the vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention, an incompressible medium can be used as the secondary refrigerant in the secondary refrigerant circuit. That is, the secondary refrigerant circuit is a circuit that circulates the refrigerant independently of the primary refrigerant circuit, and circulates the secondary refrigerant cooled by the primary refrigerant circuit and uses the secondary refrigerant / vehicle interior air heat exchanger. Therefore, it is only necessary to exchange heat with the air in the passenger compartment, so that it is possible to use an incompressible medium that is simply circulated in the circuit. Examples of such an incompressible medium include water and brine. When a compressible medium with a gas / liquid phase change is used as the refrigerant, equipment for gas-liquid phase change such as an evaporator, compressor, and condenser is required in the refrigerant circuit, and the entire refrigerant circuit is complicated. Although it tends to be large, the use of an incompressible medium as the secondary refrigerant makes it easier to reduce the size and weight of the secondary refrigerant circuit and improves the vehicle mounting of the secondary refrigerant circuit. Can be made. Further, since it is only necessary to circulate the secondary refrigerant, the circuit piping can be easily routed to any place, and the secondary refrigerant is sent to virtually any place where the cooling function is desired. The vehicle interior air can be appropriately cooled using the secondary refrigerant / vehicle interior air heat exchanger.

  In the secondary refrigerant circuit according to the present invention, which requires such a simple circuit configuration, a circulation pump for circulating the secondary refrigerant may be simply provided.

  In the vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention, the secondary refrigerant / vehicle interior air heat exchanger can be basically installed at any position in the vehicle interior. What is necessary is just to arrange | position to an appropriate place other than an instrument panel. In view of the problem to be solved by the present invention, for example, it is preferable to arrange at the ceiling portion in the passenger compartment or in the vicinity thereof.

  Thus, according to the vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention, the compressor that compresses the refrigerant, the condenser that condenses the compressed refrigerant, the decompression and expansion means that decompresses and expands the condensed refrigerant, An evaporator capable of evaporating the decompressed and expanded refrigerant and capable of exchanging heat with the air sent into the passenger compartment, and circulating the refrigerant so that the refrigerant from the evaporator is returned to the compressor A secondary refrigerant circuit is provided for the primary refrigerant circuit, and a primary refrigerant / secondary in which heat can be exchanged between the primary refrigerant and a secondary refrigerant different from the primary refrigerant in the primary refrigerant circuit. A refrigerant heat exchanger is provided and heat can be exchanged between the secondary refrigerant and the passenger compartment air in the secondary refrigerant circuit, and heat exchange between the passenger compartment air can be performed without using the delivery air. Since a possible secondary refrigerant / vehicle interior air heat exchanger is provided, the required cooling amount for vehicle interior air can be reduced. It can be achieved by the conditioned air cooled by the primary refrigerant circuit and blown out from the instrument panel side, and cooling by the secondary refrigerant / vehicle interior air heat exchanger, while ensuring the desired cooling capacity, the instrument panel side The amount of conditioned air that is blown from the vehicle and directly hits the occupant can be greatly reduced, and the discomfort imparted to the occupant can be effectively suppressed. It is also possible to operate only the secondary refrigerant circuit when idling is stopped, etc., and to effectively use the heat capacity of the secondary refrigerant that has been cooled so far, the power consumed for air conditioning is reduced. It becomes possible.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a vehicle air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention. In particular, a primary refrigerant / secondary refrigerant heat exchanger is arranged between an evaporator and a compressor in a primary refrigerant circuit. And the example at the time of providing the circulation pump in a secondary refrigerant circuit is shown. In the configuration shown in FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a primary refrigerant circuit. The primary refrigerant circuit 1 is a compressor 2 that sucks refrigerant, a condenser 3 that condenses the compressed refrigerant, and a decompression of the condensed refrigerant. An expansion valve 4 that expands, an evaporator 5 that evaporates the refrigerant that has been decompressed / expanded, and that can exchange heat with the air that is sent into the passenger compartment. The primary refrigerant is different from the primary refrigerant 2 A primary refrigerant / secondary refrigerant heat exchanger 10 capable of exchanging heat with the secondary refrigerant is provided. On the other hand, 11 indicates a secondary refrigerant circuit, and in the secondary refrigerant circuit 11, secondary refrigerant / air heat exchangers 12 and 2 capable of exchanging heat between the secondary refrigerant and the air in the passenger compartment. A circulation pump 13 for circulating the secondary refrigerant and the above-described primary refrigerant / secondary refrigerant heat exchanger 10 are provided. As described above, an incompressible medium such as water or brine is used for the secondary refrigerant. The secondary refrigerant / air heat exchanger 12 is disposed, for example, on the ceiling of the vehicle interior, and is in direct contact with the air in the vehicle interior 20, and does not send conditioned air into the vehicle interior 20. The air in 20 can be directly cooled by heat exchange. In addition, the arrow in the secondary refrigerant circuit 11 in the primary refrigerant circuit 1 in FIG. 1 has shown the flow direction of each refrigerant | coolant.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of a conventional general vehicle air conditioner for comparison. Compared to FIG. 1, FIG. 2 includes only a single refrigerant circuit 30, and includes a secondary refrigerant circuit 11 and its associated secondary refrigerant / air heat exchanger 12, circulation pump 13, primary refrigerant / secondary. The refrigerant heat exchanger 10 is not provided. Other configurations are substantially the same as those shown in FIG. 1, and therefore, the same reference numerals as those in FIG.

  In the conventional vehicle air conditioner shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle interior air is all cooled using the evaporator 5. Specifically, vehicle interior air or outside intake air is first sucked by a blower or the like (not shown) and sent to the evaporator 5 through an air duct (not shown). In the evaporator 5, heat exchange is performed between the air sent through the air duct and the refrigerant depressurized and expanded by the expansion valve 4 and evaporated by the evaporator 5, and the cooled conditioned air is instrumented. It is sent into the passenger compartment 20 from an outlet (not shown) formed in a panel or the like. As described above, in the configuration shown in FIG. 2, all the air in the passenger compartment is cooled by the evaporator 5, and all the conditioned air cooled by the evaporator 5 is finally sent into the passenger compartment 20. Therefore, particularly when the passenger compartment temperature is high, a large amount of passenger compartment air is cooled by the evaporator 5 and sent out into the passenger compartment 20, and the amount of conditioned air blown out from the instrument panel may also increase. There is.

  On the other hand, in the vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, the air in the passenger compartment is cooled by the evaporator 5 and the secondary refrigerant / air heat exchanger 12. In FIG. 1, the cooling by the evaporator 5 is performed by heat exchange between the air sent through the air duct and the primary refrigerant evaporated in the evaporator 5 in the same manner as the conventional apparatus in FIG. 2 described above. After being cooled, it is performed by being sent into the passenger compartment 20 from an outlet formed in an instrument panel or the like. The cooling by the secondary refrigerant / air heat exchanger 12 is performed as follows. First, heat exchange between the primary refrigerant and the secondary refrigerant evaporated by the evaporator 5 is performed by the primary refrigerant / secondary refrigerant heat exchanger 10, and the secondary refrigerant is cooled. The cooled secondary refrigerant is circulated in the secondary refrigerant circuit 11 by the circulation pump 13, and heat exchange is performed between the secondary refrigerant / air heat exchanger 12 and the air in the passenger compartment. Is cooled. In the present embodiment, the secondary refrigerant / air heat exchanger 12 directly exchanges heat between the secondary refrigerant and the air in the passenger compartment, so that the secondary refrigerant circuit 11 delivers conditioned air to the passenger compartment. The vehicle interior air can be cooled without any problems. As a result, in the vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention, compared with a conventional vehicle air conditioner having a single refrigerant circuit, the amount of conditioned air directly hitting the occupant from the instrument panel or the like is reduced, resulting in discomfort. In this embodiment, it is possible to reduce the total amount of conditioned air delivered to the passenger compartment, and also from this aspect, it is possible to promote the suppression of discomfort to the passenger.

  The vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention can be applied to all types of vehicles, and is particularly suitable for an automotive vehicle air conditioner that has mainly been conditioned air blowing from an instrument panel.

It is a schematic block diagram of the vehicle air conditioner which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram which shows an example of the conventional vehicle air conditioner.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Primary refrigerant circuit 2 Compressor 3 Condenser 4 Expansion valve 5 Evaporator 10 Primary refrigerant / secondary refrigerant heat exchanger 11 Secondary refrigerant circuit 12 Secondary refrigerant / air heat exchanger 13 Circulation pump 20 Car compartment 30 Refrigerant circuit

Claims (7)

  Compressor for compressing refrigerant, condenser for condensing compressed refrigerant, decompression / expansion means for decompressing / expanding the condensed refrigerant, evaporating the decompressed / expanded refrigerant and sending it to the passenger compartment An air conditioner for a vehicle comprising: an evaporator capable of exchanging heat with air; and a refrigerant circuit that circulates the refrigerant so as to return the refrigerant from the evaporator to the compressor. The refrigerant, the refrigerant circuit as a primary refrigerant circuit, in the primary refrigerant circuit, the primary refrigerant / 2 capable of exchanging heat between the primary refrigerant and a secondary refrigerant different from the primary refrigerant A secondary refrigerant heat exchanger is provided to form a secondary refrigerant circuit that circulates the secondary refrigerant, and a secondary that can exchange heat between the secondary refrigerant and the vehicle interior air in the secondary refrigerant circuit A vehicle air conditioner provided with a refrigerant / vehicle interior air heat exchanger.   The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the primary refrigerant / secondary refrigerant heat exchanger is disposed between the evaporator and the compressor in the primary refrigerant circuit.   The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a circulation pump for circulating the secondary refrigerant is provided in the secondary refrigerant circuit.   The vehicle air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the secondary refrigerant / vehicle interior air heat exchanger is disposed at a place other than an instrument panel in the vehicle interior.   The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 4, wherein the secondary refrigerant / vehicle interior air heat exchanger is disposed at or near a ceiling portion of the vehicle interior.   The vehicle air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the secondary refrigerant is made of an incompressible medium.   The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 6, wherein the secondary refrigerant is made of water or brine.

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