JP2013095214A - Vehicle with air-conditioner mounted - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To control a temperature of an air conditioner and reduce fuel consumption without cost.SOLUTION: The air conditioner includes a compressor 13 driven by an engine 2 through an electromagnetic clutch 19, an evaporator 16 for blowing cool air to an inside of the vehicle, and a blower fan 17. A temperature sensor 18 is arranged near a front surface of the evaporator 16. When a headlight 7 is lighted at night, a set temperature for stopping operation of the compressor 13 is raised to a high-temperature set value. Because outside air is cool at night and the air conditioner works efficiently, adequate cooling is automatically carried out and wasteful consumption of power of the engine for driving the air conditioner is prevented to contribute to fuel efficiency improvement. As an existing electric component is utilized as a control means of the air conditioner, the cost does not increase.

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle (automobile) equipped with an air conditioner, and more specifically, to a vehicle equipped with a simple air conditioner (cooler) having only an ON / OFF or dynamic adjustment function. To do.

  When an air conditioner mounted on a vehicle such as a passenger car is viewed in a control mode, there are various grades. In the high grade, a room temperature sensor that detects the room temperature is provided, the temperature detected by the room temperature sensor is compared with a preset room temperature, and the cool air blowing temperature and the blowing temperature are set so that the room temperature becomes a set value. The amount is controlled (for example, Patent Document 1).

  The compressor of the air conditioner is driven by the vehicle's driving power source (engine in the case of an engine vehicle, and battery in the case of a hybrid vehicle), but the driving load is set to prevent an excessive load from being applied to the power source. When the value is exceeded, the driving of the air conditioner is forcibly stopped (for example, Patent Document 2). Furthermore, as a basic control method, a thermo switch is provided downstream of the evaporator, and the compressor is stopped when the blowing temperature becomes a set value or less.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-264637 JP-A-10-175427 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-255352 (paragraph 0002)

  The automatic air conditioner that controls the room temperature to be kept constant as in Patent Document 1 is ideal, but it requires a lot of sensors and the air conditioner must also have an adjustment function. There is a growing problem. In addition, it cannot be said that all users are demanding the auto air conditioner function, and it can be said that there are many users who desire higher fuel efficiency than the auto air conditioner function.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a current situation, and is intended to realize automatic temperature control and fuel efficiency improvement of an air conditioner without increasing costs.

  Since an air conditioner (car cooler) cools the inside of a car (inside the room), it is a normal idea to detect it with a room temperature sensor and feed it back to the air conditioner, but there are other factors that make it possible to control the temperature inside the car. For example, it is not always necessary to provide a room temperature sensor in the vehicle. The inventor of the present application has conceived this way, and thought that it would be possible to control the air conditioner using electrical components, sensors, and the like that are provided as essential items in the vehicle, and thus completed the present invention.

  That is, the invention includes a compressor driven by a traveling power source, an evaporator to which a refrigerant compressed by the compressor is sent, and a temperature sensor that detects the temperature of cool air that is absorbed by the evaporator and sent into the vehicle. The compressor stops driving when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor is lower than a preset air-conditioner cut set temperature, and the headlight or other external environment-compatible electrical components are turned ON / OFF, or the seat The air conditioner cut set temperature is adjusted by turning on or off the body pressure detection sensor or other human detection sensors.

  Here, the external environment-compatible electrical equipment is electrical equipment that is operated by a driver or the like due to a change in the external environment of the vehicle. In addition to the headlights that turn on when it gets dark, wipers used in the rain and outside cold air are used. For example, a motor with a power window that can be opened for use. On the other hand, as the human detection sensor, in addition to the body pressure detection sensor provided in each seat, a seat belt sensor that detects whether or not the seat belt is worn when the body pressure detection sensor is in an ON state can be used. These external environment-compatible electrical components and human detection sensors can be used singly or in combination of a plurality of types.

  Now, the cool air generated by passing through the evaporator of the air conditioner is sent into the vehicle and the temperature rises. The degree of the temperature rise is closely related to the outside air temperature and the number of passengers. In other words, even if the temperature of the cool air at the air outlet of the air conditioner is constant, if the outside air temperature is low, the degree of temperature rise becomes weak, so the temperature inside the vehicle becomes low and the phenomenon of “too cold” is likely to occur. Even when the number of passengers is small, the heat of the person is weakened and heat exchange is suppressed, so that the temperature inside the vehicle also becomes low and the phenomenon of “too cold” tends to occur.

  Also, when the altitude is high or the outside air is low due to running in the shade, the air conditioner often opens the window without taking off and takes in cold air outside, but in this case it is necessary to use the air conditioner (For example, since ON / OFF of the air conditioner can only be operated from the front seat, a person in the rear seat often opens the window without asking the air conditioner to turn on one by one.)

  And at night, the headlights are turned on. In the present invention, for example, by setting the air conditioner cut set temperature to be higher in relation to the headlights, the outside air temperature becomes lower at night. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of an over-cooling phenomenon and to contribute to the improvement of fuel consumption by preventing wasteful consumption of driving power for driving the compressor.

  That is, it is possible to control the temperature of the air conditioner using existing equipment without cost, and to contribute to improvement of fuel consumption. The headlights are turned on during tunnel running even in the daytime, but as a means to increase the relevance between the headlights and the decrease in outside air temperature, the air conditioner cut is performed on the condition that the lighting time of the headlights has passed to some extent. It is preferable to change the set temperature.

  In addition, the specific numerical value of the air conditioner cut set temperature can be arbitrarily set in consideration of regional characteristics, seasons, user's preference, etc., but when switching between two levels of low temperature set value and high temperature set value, It can be said that the low temperature set value is 2 ° C. and the high temperature set value is about 4 ° C.

  Even when it is raining, the temperature of the outside air is lowered, and the temperature of the vehicle body is lowered when the vehicle body gets wet. Therefore, the heat radiation property of the cold air in the vehicle is deteriorated, and the degree of temperature rise is lower than that when it is sunny. Therefore, in association with the ON / OFF of the wiper, by setting the air conditioner cut set temperature higher when the wiper is turned ON, it is possible to realize appropriate temperature adjustment and fuel efficiency improvement without incurring a cost increase. When the power window is turned on, it is determined that the necessity of the air conditioner has decreased, and by setting the air conditioner cut set temperature high, it is possible to achieve appropriate temperature adjustment and fuel efficiency improvement.

  In addition, as described above, when the number of passengers is small, the heat dissipation of cold air is reduced and the degree of temperature rise is weakened. For example, the number of passengers can be reduced by utilizing the fact that a body pressure sensor or a seat belt sensor is turned on. By calculating, for example, when the number of persons is two or less, control is performed such that the air conditioner cut set temperature is set high, thereby making it possible to achieve appropriate temperature adjustment and fuel efficiency improvement.

It is a schematic diagram which shows embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of control.

(1). Configuration Next, a description will be given based on an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle has an engine room 1 at the front thereof, and an engine 2 is disposed in the engine room 1 in a posture in which a crankshaft is horizontally long. The engine room 1 and the vehicle interior 3 are partitioned by a partition wall (not shown), and a seat 4 is disposed in the vehicle interior 3. Each seat 4 is equipped with a seat belt 5, and each seat belt 5 is provided with a seat belt sensor 6 for detecting that the seat belt 5 is worn. Although not shown, each seat 4 is provided with a body pressure detection sensor.

  The vehicle is provided with a headlight 7 and a wiper 8 as essential equipment, and a light operation lever 10 and a wiper operation lever 11 are arranged on both sides of the handle 9. The headlight 7 may or may not include a small lamp. The wiper 8 is driven by a motor 12. Although not shown in the figure, the window glass is also moved up and down by a motor.

  The vehicle is equipped with an air conditioner. This air conditioner includes a compressor 13 driven by the engine 2, a condenser (condenser) 14 to which refrigerant compressed by the compressor 13 is sent, a receiver 15 that buffers liquefied refrigerant sent from the condenser 14, and a receiver 15 An evaporator (evaporator) 16 that evaporates the generated refrigerant and a blower fan 17 that sucks air in the vehicle and passes the evaporator (evaporator) 16 (the evaporator 16 and the blower fan 17 are integrated with each other). It is a blower unit.) In the vicinity of the front surface of the evaporator 16, a temperature sensor 18 for detecting the temperature of the cold air is provided. The power of the engine 2 is interrupted to the compressor 13 via the electromagnetic clutch 19.

  The vehicle includes a control device 20 that comprehensively controls the electric / electronic system. In FIG. 1, the control device 20 is disposed in the engine room 1, but this is a convenient display, and can be provided on a dashboard, for example. The control device 20 may be composed of a plurality of parts separated from each other. The control device 20 may be integrated with an engine control unit (ECU) that controls fuel injection control and the like.

  The control device 20 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and memories, and the headlight 7 ON / OFF signal, the wiper 8 ON / OFF signal, the seat belt 5 ON / OFF signal, and the temperature sensor 18. The electrical signal is input to the control device 20.

  The electromagnetic clutch 19 is turned on / off based on an instruction from the control device 20. The electromagnetic clutch 19 is turned on / off based on an electrical signal sent from the temperature sensor 18. Specifically, the air conditioner cut set temperature is set in the RAM, and an electric signal transmitted from the temperature sensor 18 at an appropriate time interval is passed through the comparison circuit, so that the temperature of the temperature sensor 18 and the air conditioner cut set temperature are set. The difference is detected, and when the difference is positive, the operation of the compressor is continued. When the difference becomes zero or negative, the electromagnetic clutch 19 is turned off and the operation of the fan 17 is stopped. Then, when the preset time has elapsed, the operation is resumed.

(2). Specific Example of Control Next, a specific example of controlling the air conditioner in conjunction with the lighting of the headlight 7 will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. Step is abbreviated as “S”. First, when the air conditioner switch is turned on, the control system starts, and the headlight 7 is searched for ON / OFF (S1).

  If the headlight 7 is OFF, the process returns to S1 after an appropriate time has elapsed, and if the headlight 7 switch is ON, the lighting time of the headlight 7 has passed a preset time. It is determined whether or not (S2). If the lighting time has not passed the set time, it is determined whether or not the set time has passed again after an appropriate time. If the lighting time has passed the set time, the air conditioner cut set temperature T0 is set to a low temperature. It is determined whether or not the value is T1 (S3). In the present embodiment, the air conditioner cut set temperature T0 is a two-step switching method between a low temperature set value T1 and a high temperature set value T2, and only one of T1 and T2 is selected for T0. The low temperature set value is set to 2 ° C., and the high temperature set value is set to 4 ° C.

  When the air conditioner cut set temperature T0 is T1, the air conditioner cut set temperature T0 is changed to the high temperature set value T2 (S4). When the air conditioner cut set temperature T0 is changed to the high temperature set value T2 in S4, and when the air conditioner cut set temperature T0 is the high temperature set value T2 in S3, the detection temperature T3 and the high temperature set value T2 by the temperature sensor 18 are Is compared to determine whether T3 is lower than T2 (S5). If T3 is lower than T2, it is determined that the air conditioner is too cold and the air conditioner is temporarily cut (S6). When T3 is higher than T2, it is determined whether or not T3 <T2 again after an appropriate time has elapsed.

  The air conditioner cut is performed by turning off the electromagnetic clutch 19 and stopping the operation of the compressor 13 and stopping the driving of the blower fan 17. However, only the compressor 13 is stopped and the drive of the blower fan 17 is continued. Is also possible.

  When the air conditioner stops, it is determined whether or not the preset air conditioner cut time has elapsed (S7). If it is determined that the air conditioner cut time has elapsed, the electromagnetic clutch 19 is turned on to power the compressor 13 Then, the operation of the air conditioner is resumed (S8). The transition from S7 to S8 may be performed using a timer.

  In the above specific example, the air conditioner is cut by turning the headlight 7 on and off, but it is also possible to interlock with other elements such as the wiper 8 on and off. The increase in the number of passengers acts in a direction to cancel out the cooling efficiency increase due to the decrease in outside air. For example, the air conditioner cut set temperature T0 is set to the high temperature set value T1 after a predetermined time elapses due to lighting of the headlight 7 or driving of the wiper 8, for example. It is also possible to calculate the number of passengers from the electric signals of the seat belt sensor 6 and the body pressure sensor provided in each seat 4 and to correct the time until the air conditioner is cut as the number increases. It is.

  The present invention can be actually embodied in a vehicle such as a passenger car. Therefore, it can be used industrially.

1 Engine room 2 Engine as an example of driving power source 3 Car interior (indoor)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 4 Seat 6 Seat belt sensor 7 Headlight 8 Wiper 10 Light operation lever 11 Wiper operation lever 13 Air conditioner compressor 16 Air conditioner evaporator 17 Evaporator blower fan 18 Temperature sensor 19 Electromagnetic clutch 20 Control device (control unit)

Claims (1)

A compressor driven by a traveling power source; an evaporator to which the refrigerant compressed by the compressor is sent; and a temperature sensor that detects the temperature of cold air that is absorbed by the evaporator and sent into the vehicle, and the temperature sensor And the compressor is stopped when the temperature detected in step 1 is lower than a predetermined air conditioner cut set temperature,
The air conditioner cut set temperature is adjusted by turning on / off the headlights or other external environment-compatible electrical components, or by turning on / off the body pressure detection sensor of the seat or other human detection sensors.
Air-conditioned vehicle.

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