JP2012180053A - Vehicle air conditioning control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicle air conditioning control device that properly performs an air flow control of a blower fan corresponding to operation stop of a compressor to achieve power saving of a vehicle air conditioner or improvement of fuel efficiency.SOLUTION: The air conditioning control device for a vehicle air conditioner that performs cooling of a vehicle interior by a refrigeration cycle, includes an air flow control means that controls the rate of air flow of the blower fan based on a temperature of the air that has passed through an evaporator and a vehicle interior temperature during the stop of the operation of the compressor so as to save operation time or a workload of the compressor or blower fan, thereby achieving power saving of the air conditioner and improvement of fuel efficiency.

Description

  The present invention relates to the field of air conditioners for vehicles such as automobiles, and more particularly to control of a blower fan (blower) of a vehicle air conditioner.

  In a vehicle air conditioner such as an automobile, when cooling the passenger compartment is performed, a system that executes a refrigeration cycle including a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, an evaporator, etc. is operated, and a blower fan is provided to the evaporator. The cool air is blown out into the passenger compartment. In particular, a compressor that compresses and circulates refrigerant gas in the system is connected to a drive output shaft of a vehicle engine or a drive unit and is driven to rotate. Therefore, for the purpose of saving power, improving fuel efficiency, and improving acceleration performance. The compressor is temporarily stopped or the work amount is reduced under predetermined conditions. Typically, the compressor is intermittently controlled so that the operation is stopped when the temperature of the evaporator is reduced to a target temperature value or a target temperature range, and is restarted when the temperature of the evaporator is increased. For example, Patent Document 1 describes an example in which the operation time of the compressor is controlled in accordance with the temperature of the evaporator in order to suppress overcooling of the evaporator. Examples of control for stopping the operation of the compressor in order to improve acceleration performance when the vehicle is accelerated are described in Patent Documents 2-4 and the like.

JP2007-99073A JP-A-5-58151 JP 2004-249897 A JP-A-2005-289215

  By the way, the operation of the blower fan of the vehicle air conditioner is controlled on the basis of the passenger compartment temperature, the outside air temperature and / or the amount of solar radiation. It will not change unless the room temperature changes. In such a control mode, when the operation of the compressor is stopped as described above, the cabin temperature rises with the rise in the evaporator temperature, and the air volume of the blower fan increases. Then, although the influence of the comfort in the vehicle interior is small, the reactivation of the compressor is accelerated, the operation stop time of the compressor is shortened, and the amount of energy consumption of the compressor is increased correspondingly. When the air flow control of the blower fan is based only on the passenger compartment temperature or the like, the response of the air flow control of the blower fan to the start of operation of the compressor is slow, so that the situation where the air flow is relatively high continues. These phenomena are not preferable from the viewpoint of power saving and fuel efficiency improvement.

  Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide air conditioning control for a vehicle that achieves power saving or fuel efficiency improvement in the air conditioning system for the vehicle by appropriately executing the air volume control of the blower fan in response to the stoppage of the operation of the compressor. Is to provide a device.

  According to the present invention, the above-described problem is an air-conditioning control apparatus for a vehicle air-conditioning apparatus that performs cooling of a vehicle interior by a refrigeration cycle, and the air temperature after passing through an evaporator while the compressor is stopped This is achieved by an apparatus having an air volume adjusting means for adjusting an increase or decrease in the air volume of the blower fan based on the vehicle interior temperature.

  According to the above configuration, when the compressor is stopped, the air volume of the blower fan of the vehicle air conditioner is controlled with reference to not only the passenger compartment temperature but also the air temperature after passing through the evaporator. Become. As a result, an increase in the passenger compartment temperature while the compressor is stopped is suppressed, and the amount of energy consumed by the compressor or the blower fan is reduced. For example, as one aspect, when the compressor interior is stopped, the air temperature of the blower fan is temporarily reduced when the passenger compartment temperature and the air temperature after passing through the evaporator are within the target temperature value or the target temperature range, respectively. Good. Then, the rise in the air temperature after passing through the evaporator becomes dull, delaying the start of operation of the compressor, and extending the operation stop period of the compressor. Also, as another aspect, when the compressor is stopped, the air volume of the blower fan is temporarily increased when the passenger compartment temperature and the air temperature after passing through the evaporator are within the target temperature value or the target temperature range, respectively. It's okay. If it does so, the air temperature after passing an evaporator will rise easily and the operation start of a compressor will be accelerated | stimulated, but since the vehicle interior temperature will fall, the air volume of a blower fan will be reduced even after the operation start of a compressor. According to the above-described air volume control of the present invention, as compared with the case where the control is not executed, the operation stop period of the compressor is extended or the air volume of the blower fan is reduced, and the energy consumption of the compressor or the blower fan is saved. Will be.

  Note that the air volume control described above may be basically executed only when the compressor is stopped. When the operation of the compressor is restored, the air volume control may be executed based on the passenger compartment temperature or the like in a normal manner.

  Thus, according to the present invention described above, the air volume control of the blower fan of the air conditioner is performed by referring to the operating state of the compressor and the state of the evaporator together with the passenger compartment temperature, so that the operation of the compressor or the blower fan is performed. Time or workload can be saved. As a result, an effect of power saving and fuel efficiency improvement in the air conditioner is expected.

  Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a control device for a vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a graph showing an example of the target amount of the blower air volume with respect to the passenger compartment temperature in the vehicle air conditioner in the form of a graph. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing in the air volume control of the control device for a vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing temporal changes in the passenger compartment temperature, the blower air volume, and the air temperature after passing through the evaporator before and after the operation stop period of the compressor in the vehicle air conditioner. (A) is an example when the control according to the present invention is not executed, (B) is an example when the blower power saving control according to the present invention is executed, and (C) is a cold storage in the vehicle interior according to the present invention. It is an example at the time of performing control.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Air-conditioning electronic controller 12 ... Vehicle interior temperature setting device 14 ... Blower fan motor control device 16 ... Compressor clutch control device 20 ... Outside air temperature sensor 22 ... Solar radiation sensor 24 ... Vehicle interior temperature sensor 26 ... Air after evaporator Temperature sensor

  The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to a few preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the figure, the same reference numerals indicate the same parts.

Configuration of Device The vehicle air conditioner (not shown) to which the control device of the present invention is applied may be any air conditioner that performs cooling of the vehicle interior using a refrigeration cycle. In short, a system for realizing a refrigeration cycle of an air conditioner includes a compressor that is selectively connected to a drive output shaft of a vehicle engine or a drive unit via a clutch and is driven to rotate, and a high-temperature and high-pressure from the compressor. A condenser that receives the refrigerant gas and condenses the refrigerant into a liquid, a dryer that removes moisture and dust from the condensed refrigerant liquid, an expansion valve that sprays the high-pressure refrigerant liquid and exposes it to low pressure, and an evaporator that vaporizes the refrigerant liquid And a blower fan that blows air to blow air into the passenger compartment through the evaporator.

  The operation of the vehicle air conditioner is controlled by an air conditioning ECU (electronic control unit) 10 that realizes the control device according to the present invention schematically shown in the form of a block diagram in FIG. The ECU 10 may include a microcomputer and a drive circuit having a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and an input / output port device, which are connected to each other by a bidirectional common bus. The ECU 10 includes a desired set temperature from the vehicle interior temperature setter 12 that allows the driver or passenger to set a desired temperature in the vehicle interior, an outside air temperature from the outside air temperature sensor 20, and solar radiation from the solar radiation sensor 22. The amount, the vehicle interior temperature from the vehicle interior temperature sensor, and the temperature from the temperature sensor 26 that detects the air temperature after passing through the evaporator (post-evaporator air temperature) are input. Then, the ECU 10 uses these pieces of information to transmit a control signal for clutch operation control to the compressor clutch control device 16 in accordance with a program stored in a storage device (not shown). Thereby, the selective operation connection state of the drive output shaft of the engine or the drive unit and the input shaft of the compressor is controlled, and the compressor is operated or stopped. For the blower fan, a control signal is transmitted from the ECU 10 to the blower fan motor control device 14 in accordance with a program stored in the storage device so that the air volume control can be performed in a manner described later. The number of rotations of the blower fan motor is controlled to adjust the air volume.

In the control apparatus of FIG. 1, when the operation of the air conditioner is instructed by the driver or the occupant, the clutch for the compressor is basically operated by the drive output shaft of the engine or the drive unit and the input shaft of the compressor. And the compressor is operated to start circulation of the refrigerant in the system, and the blower fan motor is rotated to start blowing air into the vehicle interior. Here, unless the acceleration cut control for improving the acceleration performance is executed, the operation of the compressor is basically adapted to the desired set temperature based on the air temperature after passing through the evaporator. When the set evaporator temperature decreases to the target value or the target range, the operation is stopped. When the evaporator temperature rises above the target value or the target range, the operation of the compressor is resumed. On the other hand, in the operation of the blower fan, basically, the air volume is increased or decreased based on the outside air temperature, the amount of solar radiation, and the vehicle interior temperature so that the vehicle interior temperature becomes the desired set temperature. More specifically, for example, as depicted by the solid line in FIG. 2, when the difference is large based on the difference between the vehicle interior temperature and the desired set temperature (vehicle interior temperature−desired set temperature), When the vehicle interior temperature approaches the desired set temperature, the rotation of the blower fan motor is controlled so as to reduce the air volume.

  In the above control mode, as already mentioned, when the operation of the compressor is stopped, if the operation of the blower fan is controlled based on the vehicle interior temperature or the like, as the vehicle interior temperature rises (the vehicle running environment is Usually, since it does not change in a short period of time, the outside air temperature and the amount of solar radiation hardly change.) The air volume of the blower fan increases. As a result, the evaporator temperature rises faster, and the compressor stop period is shortened (compared to the case where there is no increase in the blower fan's airflow), resulting in an increase in the energy consumption of the blower fan and compressor. (See FIG. 4A).

  Therefore, in the control of the present invention, when the operation of the compressor is stopped, not only the temperature in the passenger compartment but also the evaporator temperature (refer to the air temperature after passing through the evaporator) is taken into consideration. Control is executed. FIG. 3 shows a process of the blower fan air volume control of the control device of the present invention in the form of a flowchart. It should be noted that the control processing in the figure is repeated by the operation of the air conditioning ECU 10 according to the program stored in the storage device (not shown) during the operation of the air conditioner (instructed by the driver or the occupant). Executed.

  Referring to FIG. 3, in the blower fan air volume control process, whether or not the compressor is stopped (step 10), whether or not the passenger compartment temperature is within the target temperature range (step 20), the evaporator temperature Is determined within the target temperature range (step 30). As already mentioned, the compressor is stopped when the evaporator temperature decreases to the target value or target range, and the operation is resumed when it rises above the target value or target range. The target temperature range with respect to the passenger compartment temperature is set to a predetermined range including the desired set temperature value or the desired set temperature. The target temperature range with respect to the evaporator temperature is set by adaptation by experiment or the like so that the vehicle interior temperature becomes the desired set temperature. Specifically, the target temperature range for the evaporator temperature may be determined using a map with the desired set temperature as a variable. The evaporator temperature refers to the air temperature after passing through the evaporator as described above.

  In the above series of determination processes, when the compressor is operating, the passenger compartment temperature is not within the target temperature range, or the evaporator temperature is not within the target temperature range, the blower fan air volume control is performed as follows: It is executed under normal control (step 50). That is, using the relationship illustrated by the solid line α in FIG. 2, the target air volume is determined with respect to the passenger compartment temperature, and the rotation operation of the blower fan motor is instructed at the rotation speed that realizes the air volume. The

  On the other hand, when the compressor is stopped, the passenger compartment temperature is within the target temperature range, and the evaporator temperature is within the target temperature range, the air volume control is executed in a mode different from the normal control ( Step 40). Control different from normal control may be one of the following two modes.

  As a first control mode, the air volume of the blower fan is reduced more than usual as indicated by the one-dot chain line β in FIG. 2 ((a) blower power saving control). As a result, as shown in FIG. 4B, the rise in the evaporator temperature becomes more gradual than in the case of the normal control, thereby extending the period until the compressor is restarted. Savings will be made.

  As a second mode of control different from the normal control, the air volume of the blower fan is increased from the normal level as indicated by the dotted line γ in FIG. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4C, the evaporator temperature rises faster and the compressor restarts faster, but the vehicle cabin temperature is reduced ((b) vehicle cabin cold storage control). The air volume of the blower fan after resumption is reduced as compared with the case of normal control, and the energy consumption of the blower fan motor is saved accordingly.

  Thus, according to the above configuration, the air flow control of the blower fan is executed by referring to the operating state of the compressor and the state of the evaporator together with the passenger compartment temperature, so that the operating time or the work amount of the compressor or the blower fan can be reduced. Savings will be made, and power saving and fuel economy will be improved.

  Although the above description has been made in relation to the embodiment of the present invention, many modifications and changes can be easily made by those skilled in the art, and the present invention is limited to the embodiment exemplified above. It will be apparent that the invention is not limited and applies to various devices without departing from the inventive concept.

Claims (1)

An air conditioning control device for a vehicle air conditioner that performs cooling of a vehicle interior by a refrigeration cycle, and when a compressor is stopped, a blower fan is controlled based on an air temperature after passing through an evaporator and a vehicle interior temperature. An apparatus having an air volume adjusting means for adjusting the air volume.

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