JP2020006724A - Vehicular air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a vehicular air conditioner capable of achieving comfortable air conditioning even when a direction of a seat is changed.SOLUTION: A vehicular air conditioner 1 is mounted in a vehicle 60 provided with a front seat 61 and a rear seat 62. The vehicular air conditioner 1 includes: a first blow-out port 45 which blows air-conditioned air to the front seat 61 in a first state in which the front seat 61 is directed to a front side; a second blow-out port 55 which blows air-conditioned air to the front seat 61 in a second state in which the front seat 61 is directed to a rear side; and a blowing change device. The vehicular air conditioner 1 further includes an air conditioning control section which controls the blowing change device so that air-conditioned air is blown out from the second blow-out port 55 by closing the first blow-out port 45 or restricting an opening of the first blow-out port as compared with the first state when the front seat 61 is in the second state. Therefore, comfortable air conditioning can be achieved even when a direction of the front seat 61 is changed to the rear side.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The disclosure in this specification relates to a vehicle air conditioner.

  2. Description of the Related Art A vehicle air conditioner has a plurality of outlets, and is required to blow out conditioned air from an appropriate outlet in accordance with an air conditioning mode. Patent Literature 1 discloses an automotive air conditioner that automatically changes a blowing state of a blowing port by an operation of an occupant.

JP-A-5-58148

  In the configuration of the related art, the direction of the seat is not considered when automatically changing the blowing state. For this reason, when the front seat, which is the driver's seat or the passenger's seat, is opposite to the traveling direction, appropriate air-conditioning air is not blown toward the occupant seated in the front seat, and the air-conditioning operation is not performed. It is expected that comfort will decrease. In view of the above, or other aspects not mentioned, there is a need for further improvements in vehicle air conditioners.

  One object disclosed is to provide a vehicle air conditioner capable of realizing comfortable air conditioning even when the direction of a front seat is changed backward.

  The vehicle air conditioner disclosed herein is a vehicle air conditioner (1) mounted on a vehicle (60) having a front seat (61) and a rear seat (62), wherein the front seat is a vehicle air conditioner. A first outlet (45) for blowing conditioned air to an occupant seated in a front seat in a first state facing forward, and a front seat in a second state in which the front seat faces rearward of the vehicle; A second air outlet (55, 259) for blowing the conditioned air to the occupant, a blowing change device (43, 256) for changing a position for blowing the conditioned air, and a signal indicating that the front seat is in the second state. When the information is acquired, the first air outlet is closed, or the opening degree of the first air outlet is reduced and air conditioning is performed from the second air outlet as compared with the case where a signal indicating that the front seat is in the first state is obtained. Air conditioning control unit that controls the blowout changing device to blow out the wind ( 0) and a.

  According to the disclosed vehicle air conditioner, the vehicle air conditioner closes the first outlet when receiving a signal indicating that the front seat is in the second state in which the front seat faces rearward, or An air-conditioning control unit that controls the blow-out changing device so as to narrow the opening of the first blow-out port and blow out the conditioned air from the second blow-out port as compared with a case where a signal indicating that the seat is in the first state is obtained. ing. For this reason, by changing the outlet of the conditioned air in accordance with the direction of the front seat, it is possible to prevent the efficiency of the air conditioning operation from deteriorating due to the conditioned air being blown into the space where there is no occupant. Therefore, it is possible to provide a vehicle air conditioner capable of realizing comfortable air conditioning even when the front seat direction is changed backward.

  The embodiments disclosed in this specification employ different technical means to achieve their respective objects. Reference numerals in parentheses described in the claims and this section are for exemplarily showing a correspondence relationship with a portion of the embodiment described later, and are not intended to limit the technical scope. The objects, features, and advantages disclosed in this specification will become more apparent with reference to the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the vehicle in a front facing state in which a front seat faces forward. FIG. 3 is a side view of the vehicle in a rearward facing state in which a front seat faces backward. It is a block diagram of a vehicle air conditioner. It is a block diagram regarding control of the air conditioner for vehicles. It is a flowchart regarding control of a vehicle air conditioner. It is a block diagram of the air conditioner for vehicles in 2nd Embodiment.

  A plurality of embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. In embodiments, functionally and / or structurally corresponding parts and / or associated parts may be provided with the same reference signs or reference signs that differ by more than a hundred places. For corresponding parts and / or associated parts, the description of the other embodiments can be referred to.

1. First Embodiment In FIG. 1, a vehicle air conditioner 1 is mounted on a vehicle 60. The vehicle 60 is, for example, an automobile equipped with a gasoline-driven engine. However, as the vehicle 60, an electric vehicle equipped with a traveling motor, a hybrid vehicle equipped with both an engine and a motor, and the like can be adopted. The vehicle air conditioner 1 adjusts the temperature of the taken air and blows the air into the vehicle interior. In other words, the vehicle air conditioner 1 is a device that performs an air conditioning operation such as a heating operation, a cooling operation, and a dehumidification operation in the vehicle compartment.

  The vehicle air conditioner 1 includes a defroster outlet 25 for blowing conditioned air to a windshield of the vehicle 60. The vehicle air conditioner 1 includes a face outlet 35 that blows out conditioned air above a front seat 61. The vehicle air conditioner 1 includes a front foot outlet 45 that blows out conditioned air below the front seat 61. The vehicle air conditioner 1 has a rear foot outlet 55 that blows out conditioned air below the rear seat 62.

  The vehicle 60 has a front seat 61 and a rear seat 62. The front seat 61 is located ahead of the rear seat 62 in the traveling direction of the vehicle 60. The front seat 61 has a driver seat and a passenger seat. The rear seat 62 is located behind the front seat 61 in the traveling direction of the vehicle 60. The rear seat 62 has a right rear seat and a left rear seat arranged side by side. The front seat 61 is in a forward facing state in which the vehicle 60 faces forward in the traveling direction of the vehicle 60. The forward state provides a first state in which the front seat 61 faces forward, which is the traveling direction of the vehicle 60. When the vehicle 60 is running by the driver's operation, the front seat 61 is in a forward facing state.

  In FIG. 2, the front seat 61 is in a rearward facing state in which the front seat 61 faces rearward in the traveling direction of the vehicle 60. The front seat 61 is facing backward, and the rear seat 62 is facing forward. For this reason, the occupant sitting on the front seat 61 and the occupant sitting on the rear seat 62 face each other. The rearward state provides a second state in which the front seat 61 faces rearward, which is the opposite direction to the traveling direction of the vehicle 60. In an automatic driving state in which the vehicle 60 is running without being operated by the driver, or in a parking state in which the vehicle 60 is not running, the front seat 61 can be realized in either a front-facing state or a rear-facing state. It is.

  The front seat 61 can be switched between a front-facing state and a rear-facing state by integrally rotating a seat surface and a backrest forming the front seat 61. The rotation of the front seat 61 uses the center of the seating surface of the front seat 61 as a rotation axis, and the axial direction of the rotation axis is a direction coinciding with the vertical direction. Therefore, the bearing surface rotates while maintaining a horizontal state with respect to the ground. Here, the backward state includes not only an inverted state rotated by 180 degrees with respect to the traveling direction of the vehicle 60 but also a state rotated at an angle in a range from 90 degrees to 270 degrees with respect to the traveling direction. For example, in a vehicle 60 having a total of four seats, two front seats 61 and two rear seats 62, the seats are inclined at an oblique angle so that the respective seats face a central portion located equidistant from the four seats. The state in which the seat is rotated is also included in the rearward state of the front seat 61.

  The method of switching the front seat 61 between the frontward state and the rearward state is not limited to the method described above. For example, the seat surface constituting the front seat 61 does not rotate, and the backrest may be switched between a state behind the seat surface and a state in front of the seat surface. In this case, the state in which the backrest is behind the seating surface is the frontward state of the front seat 61, and the state in which the backrest is in front of the seating surface is the rearward state of the front seat 61.

  In the rearward state of the front seat 61, a front seat direction sensor 65 is provided at the feet of the occupant sitting on the front seat 61. The front seat direction sensor 65 is a weight sensor provided on the floor of the vehicle 60. When the occupant is seated in the front seat 61 and the front seat direction sensor 65 detects a weight equal to or greater than a predetermined value, it is determined that the front seat 61 is in the rearward state, and the front seat 61 is It outputs a signal indicating that it is facing backward. On the other hand, when the front seat direction sensor 65 does not detect the weight equal to or greater than the predetermined value, it is determined that the front seat 61 is in the forward facing state, and a signal indicating that the front seat 61 is in the forward facing state is output. .

  The method of determining the direction of the front seat 61 is not limited to the method described above. An infrared sensor may be used instead of the weight sensor as the front seat direction sensor 65, and the presence or absence of the occupant's foot may be detected as the amount of change in infrared light, so that the front seat 61 may be determined to be in the forward facing state or the backward facing state. Alternatively, the front seat direction sensor 65 is used as an angle sensor provided on the front seat 61 to detect the angle at which the seat surface and the backrest of the front seat 61 are integrally rotated, so that the front seat 61 is in the forward facing state and the rear facing state. May be determined. Further, a front seat direction switch 75 is provided on an operation panel used for air-conditioning operation or the like of the vehicle 60 without the front seat direction sensor 65, and the orientation of the front seat 61 is determined by the operation of the front seat direction switch 75 by an occupant. You may do so. Alternatively, the direction of the front seat 61 may be detected by using a plurality of detection methods in combination.

  The face outlet 35 blows out conditioned air toward the upper body of the occupant sitting on the front seat 61 when the front seat 61 is in the forward facing state. On the other hand, when the front seat 61 is in the rearward facing state, the conditioned air is blown to the backrest on the rear side, which is the surface of the front seat 61 opposite to the surface on which the occupant is seated. That is, it is not possible to directly blow out the conditioned air to the occupant sitting on the front seat 61 facing backward.

  The front foot outlet 45 blows out conditioned air toward the feet of the occupant sitting on the front seat 61 when the front seat 61 is in the forward facing state. On the other hand, when the front seat 61 is in the rearward state, the conditioned air is blown to the rear side of the front seat 61 opposite to the surface on which the occupant is seated. That is, it is not possible to directly blow out the conditioned air to the occupant sitting on the front seat 61 facing backward. The front foot outlet 45 is located ahead of the backrest of the front seat 61 in the traveling direction in both the frontward state and the rearward state of the front seat 61. The front foot outlet 45 provides a first outlet that blows out conditioned air toward an occupant seated on the front seat 61 when the front seat 61 is facing forward.

  The rear foot outlet 55 is located below the seating surface of the front seat 61, and is configured so that the conditioned air blows backward from that position. The rear foot outlet 55 blows out conditioned air toward the feet of the occupant sitting on the rear seat 62. That is, the rear foot outlet 55 is an outlet capable of blowing out conditioned air to the occupant of the rear seat 62 when the front seat 61 is in the forward facing state. On the other hand, when the front seat 61 is facing backward, the conditioned air is blown toward both feet of the occupant sitting on the front seat 61 and the occupant sitting on the rear seat 62. That is, the conditioned air can be directly blown to both the occupant sitting in the front seat 61 and the occupant sitting in the rear seat 62.

  The rear foot outlet 55 is located forward of the rear end of the front seat 61 in the rearward facing state. The rear foot outlet 55 is located forward of the backrest of the front seat 61 in the forward direction in the traveling direction, and is located rearward in the traveling direction of the backrest of the front seat 61 in the rearward state.

  The distance from the rear foot outlet 55 to the center of the front seat 61 is smaller than the distance from the rear foot 55 to the center of the rear seat 62. That is, the rear foot outlet 55 is located closer to the front seat 61 than to the rear seat 62. The rear foot outlet 55 provides a second outlet that blows out conditioned air toward an occupant sitting on the front seat 61 when the front seat 61 is facing backward.

  In FIG. 3, the vehicle air conditioner 1 includes an air conditioning case 2 in which an air passage through which air flows is formed. The air-conditioning case 2 houses various devices used for the air-conditioning operation.

  The vehicle air conditioner 1 includes a blower 7, an evaporator 9, and a heater core 10. The blower 7 is a device for flowing air into the air conditioning case 2. The evaporator 9 is a heat exchanger in which a refrigerant flows, and cools the air by removing heat of vaporization when the refrigerant is vaporized from a liquid to a gas from surrounding air. The heater core 10 is a heat exchanger in which high-temperature engine cooling water flows, and heats surrounding air using heat of the engine cooling water. However, instead of the heater core 10, an electric heater that consumes electric power to heat the air may be used, or both the heater core 10 and the electric heater may be used in combination.

  The air conditioning case 2 is formed with two air intake ports, an inside air inlet 3 and an outside air inlet 4. The vehicle air conditioner 1 includes an inside / outside air switching door 5 that opens and closes the inside air inlet 3 and the outside air inlet 4. The inside / outside air switching door 5 realizes an inside air mode in which the inside air introduction port 3 is opened and the outside air introduction port 4 is closed to circulate the conditioned air in the vehicle. The inside / outside air switching door 5 realizes an outside air mode in which the inside air inlet 3 is closed and the outside air inlet 4 is opened to take in the conditioned air from outside the vehicle.

  The air conditioning case 2 is provided with a defroster outlet 25 for blowing out conditioned air toward the windshield. The air-conditioning case 2 includes a defroster duct 22 that guides the conditioned air whose temperature has changed through the evaporator 9 and the heater core 10 to the defroster outlet 25. A defroster door 21 that opens and closes the defroster duct 22 is provided near the entrance of the defroster duct 22. The defroster door 21 is a device that adjusts the presence or absence of the conditioned air from the defroster outlet 25 and the amount of the blown air.

  The air conditioning case 2 is provided with a face outlet 35 for blowing out conditioned air toward the upper body of the occupant sitting on the front seat 61 facing forward. The air-conditioning case 2 includes a face duct 32 that guides the conditioned air whose temperature has changed through the evaporator 9 and the heater core 10 to the face outlet 35. A face door 31 that opens and closes the face duct 32 is provided near the entrance of the face duct 32. The face door 31 is a device that adjusts the presence or absence of the conditioned air from the face outlet 35 and the amount of the blown air.

  The air conditioning case 2 is provided with a front foot outlet 45 for blowing out the conditioned air toward the feet of the occupant sitting on the front seat 61 facing forward. The air conditioning case 2 is provided with a rear foot outlet 55 for blowing out the conditioned air toward the feet of the occupant sitting on the rear seat 62. The air-conditioning case 2 includes a foot duct 42 that guides the conditioned air whose temperature has changed through the evaporator 9 and the heater core 10 to the front foot outlet 45 and the rear foot outlet 55. A foot door 41 that opens and closes the foot duct 42 is provided near the entrance of the foot duct 42. The foot door 41 is a device that adjusts the presence or absence of the conditioned air from the front foot outlet 45 and the rear foot outlet 55 and the amount of the blowout.

  In the foot duct 42, a duct that guides the conditioned air to the front foot outlet 45 is a front foot duct 44. On the other hand, in the foot duct 42, a duct for guiding the conditioned air to the rear foot outlet 55 is a rear foot duct 54. Near the entrance of the front foot duct 44, a front foot door 43 for opening and closing the front foot duct 44 is provided. The front foot door 43 is a device that adjusts the presence / absence of the conditioned air from the front foot outlet 45 and the amount of the conditioned air. The front foot door 43 provides a balloon changing device.

  Two front foot doors 43, a front foot duct 44, and a front foot outlet 45 are provided at positions separated in the left-right direction of the vehicle 60. That is, the driver's seat side includes a front foot door 43R, a front foot duct 44R, and a front foot outlet 45R, and the passenger side includes a front foot door 43L, a front foot duct 44L, and a front foot outlet 45L.

  Two rear foot ducts 54 and two rear foot outlets 55 are provided in the left-right direction of the vehicle 60. That is, the right seat is provided with a rear foot duct 54R and a rear foot outlet 55R, and the left seat is provided with a rear foot duct 54L and a rear foot outlet 55L.

  The vehicle air conditioner 1 has five modes as outlet modes: a defroster mode, a face mode, a foot mode, a bilevel (B / L) mode, and a foot defroster (F / D) mode.

  The defroster mode is a mode in which conditioned air is blown from the defroster outlet 25. In the defroster mode, the defroster door 21 is opened, and the face door 31 and the foot door 41 are closed. The defroster mode is used to eliminate the fogging of the windshield.

  The face mode is a mode in which the conditioned air is blown from the face outlet 35. In the face mode, the face door 31 is opened, and the defroster door 21 and the foot door 41 are closed. The face mode is often used during a cooling operation.

  The foot mode is a mode in which conditioned air is mainly blown out from the foot outlets 45 and 55. In the foot mode, the foot door 41 is opened, the face door 31 is closed, and the defroster door 21 is slightly opened and slightly opened. The foot mode is often used during a heating operation.

  The bi-level (B / L) mode is a mode in which substantially the same amount of conditioned air is blown from both the face outlet 35 and the foot outlets 45 and 55. In the bi-level (B / L) mode, the face door 31 and the foot door 41 are opened, and the defroster door 21 is closed. The bi-level (B / L) mode is often used during air-conditioning operation at an intermediate temperature between cooling and heating.

  The foot defroster (F / D) mode is a mode in which substantially the same amount of conditioned air is blown out from both the outlets 45 and 55 and the defroster outlet 25. In the foot defroster (F / D) mode, the defroster door 21 and the foot door 41 are opened and the face door 31 is closed. The foot defroster (F / D) mode is often used when the windshield becomes fogged during the heating operation in the foot mode.

  FIG. 4 shows the control system. In the control system, a control device (ECU) including the air-conditioning control unit 80 is an electronic control device (Electronic Control Unit). The control device is provided by a microcomputer having a computer-readable storage medium. The storage medium is a non-transitional substantial storage medium that temporarily stores a computer-readable program. The storage medium can be provided by a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, or the like. The controller may be provided by a single computer or a set of computer resources linked by a data communication device. The program, when executed by the control device, causes the control device to function as the control device described in this specification, and causes the control device to perform the method described in this specification.

  The means and / or functions provided by the control system can be provided by software recorded in a substantial memory device and a computer executing the software, software only, hardware only, or a combination thereof. For example, if the control device is provided by electronic circuits that are hardware, it can be provided by digital circuits that include multiple logic circuits, or by analog circuits.

  The control system has, as an input device, a plurality of signal sources that supply signals indicating information input to the control device. The control system obtains information by causing the control device to store the information in the memory device. The control system has, as output devices, a plurality of control objects whose behavior is controlled by the control device. The control system controls the behavior of the control target by converting information stored in the memory device into a signal and supplying the signal to the control target.

  The control device, the signal source, and the control target included in the control system provide various elements. At least some of these elements may be referred to as blocks for performing a function. In another aspect, at least some of those elements can be referred to as modules or sections that are interpreted as components. Furthermore, the elements included in the control system can also be called means for realizing the functions only when intentional.

  In FIG. 4, an air conditioning controller 80 that controls the vehicle air conditioner 1 is connected to a front seat direction sensor 65, an air conditioning sensor 71, an air conditioning switch 72, and a front seat direction switch 75. The front seat direction sensor 65 outputs a signal indicating whether the front seat 61 is in the frontward state or the rearward state to the air-conditioning control unit 80.

  The air conditioning sensor 71 is a sensor including an outside air temperature sensor, an indoor temperature sensor, a solar radiation amount sensor, and the like. The outside air temperature sensor is a sensor that measures the temperature outside the vehicle. The indoor temperature sensor is a sensor that measures the temperature inside the vehicle. The solar radiation sensor is a sensor that measures the solar radiation received by the vehicle 60. The air conditioning controller 80 acquires various information used for air conditioning from the air conditioning sensor 71.

  The air conditioning switch 72 is a switch operated by an occupant, and includes a switch for switching on and off the air conditioning operation, a switch for switching a set temperature, a switch for switching between an inside air mode and an outside air mode, and the like. The air conditioning switch 72 includes a switch for selecting which of the five blowing modes such as the face mode performs the air conditioning operation. However, when the air conditioning operation is performed in the automatic mode, the switching is performed automatically instead of switching the blowing mode or the like by the operation of the occupant. The air conditioning control unit 80 performs the air conditioning operation based on the air conditioning setting set by the occupant using the air conditioning switch 72.

  The front seat direction switch 75 outputs a signal indicating whether the front seat 61 is in the frontward state or the rearward state to the air-conditioning control unit 80. The front seat direction switch 75 notifies the occupant whether the front seat 61 is in the front-facing state or the rear-facing state based on the detection result of the front-seat direction sensor 65. However, when the display content of the front seat direction switch 75 is different from the actual state of the front seat 61, the display can be changed by operating the front seat direction switch 75 with the hands of the occupant. That is, for example, when the front seat switch 61 indicates that the front seat direction switch 75 is in the rearward state even though the front seat 61 is in the front-facing state, the occupant operates the front seat direction switch 75 and the front seat 61 is turned on. Enter that you are in a positive state. However, when the front seat direction sensor 65 is not provided, the display may be switched only by the operation of the occupant.

  The inside / outside air switching door 5, the blower 7, the air mix door 11, the defroster door 21, the face door 31, the foot door 41, and the front foot door 43 are connected to the air conditioning control unit 80. The air conditioning control unit 80 switches between the inside air mode and the outside air mode by switching the opening and closing of the inside / outside air switching door 5. The air-conditioning control unit 80 adjusts the air volume in the air-conditioning operation by controlling on / off and the number of rotations of the blower 7. The air conditioning controller 80 controls the temperature of the conditioned air by controlling the opening of the air mix door 11.

  The air conditioning control unit 80 adjusts the amount of the conditioned air blown from the defroster outlet 25 by switching the defroster door 21. The air conditioning control unit 80 adjusts the amount of the conditioned air blown out from the face outlet 35 by switching the face door 31. The air-conditioning control unit 80 adjusts the amount of conditioned air blown out from the foot outlets 45 and 55 by switching the foot door 41. The air conditioning control unit 80 adjusts the amount of conditioned air blown from the front foot outlet 45 by switching the front foot door 43. The various door devices include a servomotor, and the air conditioning control unit 80 controls the opening and closing of the various door devices by controlling the drive of the servomotor. However, various door devices can set not only two states, an open state and a closed state, but also a small open state, which is an opening degree intermediate between the open state and the closed state. That is, various door devices are devices that can arbitrarily reduce the opening degree of the opening such as the outlet.

  The control of the vehicle air conditioner 1 will be described below. In FIG. 5, when the operation of the vehicle air conditioner 1 is started, information on the air conditioning operation is initialized in step S101. That is, the process proceeds to step S102 after there is no information such as the outside air temperature.

  In step S102, data is read. The data to be read include information such as the outside air temperature, the vehicle interior temperature, and the amount of solar radiation acquired by the air conditioning sensor 71, information such as a set temperature and a set air volume which are the operation results of the air conditioning switch 72, Information about the direction is given. After the data reading is completed, the process proceeds to step S103.

  In step S103, TAO, which is the target outlet temperature, is calculated based on the read data. An example of an arithmetic expression used for calculating TAO is shown below.

(Equation 1)
TAO = Kset × Tset−Kr × Tr−Kam × Tam−Ks × Ts + C
Here, Kset is a set temperature gain, Kr is a vehicle interior temperature gain, Kam is an outside air temperature gain, and Ks is a solar radiation gain. Tset is the set temperature input by the occupant using the air conditioning switch 72, Tr is the vehicle interior temperature measured using the air conditioning sensor 71, Tam is the outside air temperature measured using the air conditioning sensor 71, and Ts is the air conditioning sensor. This is the amount of solar radiation measured using No. 71. C is a correction constant relating to the whole. After calculating TAO, the process proceeds to step S104.

  In step S104, various calculations are performed in accordance with the calculated TAO. Here, the various calculations include selection of the blowing mode, selection of the suction mode, and setting of the air volume generated by the blower 7. After the completion of various calculations, the process proceeds to step S111.

  In step S111, it is determined whether or not the front seat 61 is facing backward. The determination as to whether the front seat 61 is in the rearward state is made based on a signal output from the front seat direction switch 75. If the signal output from the front seat direction switch 75 is a signal indicating the frontward state, the front seat 61 is determined to be in the frontward state, and the signal output from the front seat direction switch 75 is a signal indicating the rearward state. For example, it is determined that the front seat 61 is in the rearward facing state. However, when the front seat direction switch 75 is not provided, it may be determined whether or not the vehicle is in the rearward facing state based on the direction of the front seat 61 detected by the front seat direction sensor 65. If it is determined that the front seat 61 is facing backward, the process proceeds to step S112. On the other hand, if it is determined that the front seat 61 is not in the rearward state, that is, if it is determined that the front seat 61 is in the frontward state, the process proceeds to step S130.

  In step S112, it is determined whether or not the blowing mode is a mode for opening the foot door 41. The determination as to whether or not the mode is for opening the foot door 41 is performed by reading the blowing mode input by the air conditioning switch 72. Here, the modes for opening the foot door 41 are three modes: a foot mode, a bilevel (B / L) mode, and a foot defroster (F / D) mode. However, a mode for opening the foot door 41 may be provided in addition to the three modes described above. If it is determined that the mode is to open the foot door 41, the process proceeds to step S120. On the other hand, if it is determined that the mode is the mode for closing the foot door 41, the process proceeds to step S130.

  In step S120, the output control is performed in the front seat rearward mode to perform the air conditioning operation. In the front seat backward mode, the foot door 41 is opened and the front foot door 43 is closed. As a result, the conditioned air is not blown out from the front foot outlet 45 and the conditioned air is blown out from the rear foot outlet 55. Here, since the front foot door 43 is closed, the proportion of the conditioned air blown out from the rear foot outlet 55 out of the conditioned air flowing through the foot duct 42 increases. For this reason, in order to prevent the amount of conditioned air blown from the rear foot outlet 55 from becoming excessive, a correction is made to lower the output of the blower 7 as compared with the case where the front foot door 43 is opened. After performing the air conditioning operation in the front seat backward mode, the process proceeds to step S141.

  In step S130, the output control is performed in the normal mode to perform the air-conditioning operation. That is, instead of always closing the front foot door 43, the air conditioning operation is performed by opening the front foot door 43 as necessary. After performing the air conditioning operation in the normal mode, the process proceeds to step S141.

  In step S141, it is determined whether there is a request to turn off the air conditioning operation. The request to turn off the air-conditioning operation includes, for example, a case where a request to turn off the air-conditioning operation is made by an occupant operating the air-conditioning switch 72. Alternatively, it is determined that there is a request to turn off the air-conditioning operation even when the power to drive the vehicle 60 is cut off by the operation of the ignition button by the occupant. If there is a request to turn off the air conditioning operation, the air conditioning operation is terminated. If there is no request to turn off the air-conditioning operation, that is, if the air-conditioning operation is to be maintained, the process returns to step S102 while continuing the current air-conditioning operation, and repeats a series of flows.

  According to the above-described embodiment, when the signal indicating that the front seat 61 is facing backward is acquired, the air conditioning control unit 80 closes the front foot outlet 45 and blows the conditioned air from the rear foot outlet 55. The front foot door 43 is controlled. For this reason, the blowing of the conditioned air from the front foot outlet 45, which cannot be blown to the occupant sitting on the front seat 61 in the rearward facing state, is stopped, and the deterioration of the efficiency of the air conditioning operation can be suppressed. In other words, it is possible to provide the vehicle air conditioner 1 that can realize comfortable air conditioning even when the direction of the front seat 61 is changed. Here, instead of completely closing the front foot outlet 45, the opening degree may be narrowed as compared with the first state. According to this, compared to the first state, the amount of the conditioned air blown out from the front foot outlet 45 is reduced, and the deterioration of the efficiency of the air conditioning operation can be suppressed.

  In a heating operation that is frequently performed in the foot mode, it is useful to quickly provide a comfortable air-conditioning environment to the occupant by stopping the blowing of warm air into a useless space. In particular, when applied to a hybrid vehicle or an electric vehicle that performs heating by using an electric heater that consumes electric power to heat air instead of the heater core 10, the heating performance is improved by suppressing the amount of heat required for heating. Very important.

  The rear foot outlet 55 blows out conditioned air to both the occupant seated in the front seat 61 and the occupant seated in the rear seat 62 when the front seat 61 is facing backward. For this reason, comfortable air conditioning can be provided by simultaneously blowing air conditioning air to both the occupant sitting in the front seat 61 and the occupant sitting in the rear seat 62.

  When the front seat 61 is facing backward, the conditioned air is blown from the rear foot outlet 55 that blows the conditioned air to the feet of the occupant sitting on the rear seat 62. For this reason, the air conditioning operation can be provided by using the rear foot outlet 55, which is the same outlet when the front seat 61 is in the frontward state and in the rearward state. Therefore, there is no need to provide dedicated ducts that are used separately in the front-facing state and the rear-facing state of the front seat 61. Therefore, the configuration of the vehicle air conditioner 1 is simplified and the size is easily reduced.

  The rear foot outlet 55 is provided at a position closer to the rear end of the front seat 61 facing rearward than the front end of the rear seat 62. For this reason, the length of the rear foot duct 54 can be easily reduced as compared with the case where the rear foot outlet 55 is provided at a position closer to the front end of the rear seat 62 than to the rear end of the front seat 61 facing rearward. Therefore, the vehicle air conditioner 1 is easily reduced in size.

  The rear foot outlet 55 blows out conditioned air from the front to the rear of the vehicle 60. For this reason, the pressure loss in the flow of the conditioned air is easily reduced as compared with the case where a component that changes the blowing direction is provided by providing a louver in the rear foot outlet 55 or the like. Therefore, energy consumed by the blower 7 is easily reduced, and noise and vibration generated in the vehicle air conditioner 1 are easily reduced.

  The vehicle air conditioner 1 includes a front seat direction switch 75 for inputting whether the front seat 61 is in a frontward state or a rearward state by an operation of an occupant. Therefore, the air conditioning control unit 80 can acquire the information on the direction of the front seat 61 without providing the front seat direction sensor 65 and appropriately change the air conditioning control.

  The vehicle air conditioner 1 includes a front seat direction sensor 65 that detects whether the front seat 61 is in a frontward state or a rearward state. For this reason, the direction of the front seat 61 can be detected regardless of the operation of the occupant, and the air conditioning control can be appropriately changed.

  When both the front seat direction sensor 65 and the front seat direction switch 75 are provided, the signal from the front seat direction switch 75 operated by the occupant has priority over the signal from the front seat direction sensor 65. In other words, it is determined whether the front seat 61 is in the front-facing state or the rear-facing state based on the front-seat direction switch 75 instead of the front-seat direction sensor 65. Therefore, even when the direction of the front seat 61 is erroneously detected by the front seat direction sensor 65, it can be corrected by the operation of the occupant.

Second Embodiment This embodiment is a modified example based on the preceding embodiment. In this embodiment, a center foot outlet 259 functioning as a second outlet is provided.

  In FIG. 6, the air conditioning case 2 is provided with a center foot outlet 259 for blowing out the conditioned air toward the feet of the occupant sitting on the front seat 61 facing backward. The air conditioning case 2 includes a center foot duct 257 for branching off from the foot duct 42 and sending conditioned air to the center foot outlet 259. Near the entrance of the center foot duct 257, a center foot door 256 for opening and closing the center foot duct 257 is provided. The center foot door 256 is a device that adjusts the presence / absence of the conditioned air from the center foot outlet 259 and the amount of the blown air. The center foot door 256 provides a blowing change device.

  The center foot duct 257 is provided in a center console portion provided between a driver's seat and a passenger seat. The center foot outlet 259 is located behind the center console and at an intermediate position between the front seat 61 and the rear seat 62. In other words, the distance from the center foot outlet 259 to the front seat 61 is substantially equal to the distance from the center foot outlet 259 to the rear seat 62.

  The center foot outlet 259 is located behind the rear foot outlet 55 of the vehicle 60 and blows out conditioned air. In other words, the distance from the rear seat 62 to the center foot outlet 259 is shorter than the distance from the rear seat 62 to the rear foot outlet 55.

  The center foot outlet 259 includes an outlet that blows out toward the driver seat, an outlet that blows out toward the passenger seat, an outlet that blows out toward the right rear seat, and an outlet that blows out toward the left rear seat. It has four outlets.

  The air conditioning control unit 80 closes the front foot door 43 and opens the foot door 41 and the center foot door 256 when performing the air conditioning operation in the front seat rearward mode shown in step S120. As a result, the conditioned air is blown from both the outlets of the rear foot outlet 55 and the center foot outlet 259.

  Here, the rear foot outlet 55 may be provided with a rear foot door for opening and closing the rear foot outlet 55 near the entrance of the rear foot duct 54, for example, so that the conditioned air is not blown from the rear foot outlet 55. According to this, in the front seat rearward mode, the blowing of the conditioned air from the front foot outlet 45 and the rear foot outlet 55 can be stopped, and the conditioned air can be blown out from the center foot outlet 259 in a concentrated manner. For this reason, it is easy to make the blowing amount of the conditioned air in the front seat rearward mode uniform for each seat.

  According to the above-described embodiment, the center foot outlet 259 functioning as the second outlet is an outlet different from the rear foot outlet 55. Therefore, the conditioned air blown out from the rear foot outlet 55 and the conditioned wind blown out from the center foot outlet 259 have different flows. Therefore, the space between the front seat 61 and the rear seat 62 can be easily air-conditioned widely. In other words, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of the unintended bias in the temperature distribution during the air-conditioning operation due to the air-conditioning air blowing position being biased to a specific portion.

  The center foot outlet 259 is located behind the rear foot outlet 55 in the vehicle 60. For this reason, the conditioned air blown out from the center foot outlet 259 can be blown more strongly to the occupant in the rear seat 62 than the conditioned air blown out from the rear foot outlet 55.

  The center foot outlet 259 is provided at an intermediate position between the front seat 61 and the rear seat 62. Therefore, the conditioned air blown into the passenger compartment is not blown to the occupant seated in the front seat 61 and then to the occupant seated in the rear seat 62. Therefore, it is easy to blow out the temperature and the amount of the conditioned air to both the occupant in the front seat 61 and the occupant in the rear seat 62 in a substantially uniform state. In addition, since the position of the outlet is easily visible to the occupant, the occupant can easily check whether or not the conditioned air is normally blown from the center foot outlet 259.

Other Embodiments The face door 31 may be configured to include two types of doors, a center face door and a side face door. In this case, the center face door is a door that adjusts the amount of air-conditioned air blown out of the center face outlet provided at substantially the center in the left-right direction among the face outlets 35. The side face door is a door that adjusts the amount of air-conditioned air blown from the side face blowout ports provided at both sides of the face blowout port 35 that are separated in the left-right direction. When the face door 31 is closed, both the center face door and the side face door need not be placed. For example, even when the center face door is closed and the side face doors are slightly opened and slightly opened, the closed state of the face door 31 is included.

  The disclosure in this specification and drawings is not limited to the illustrated embodiment. The disclosure includes the illustrated embodiments and variations based thereon based on those skilled in the art. For example, the disclosure is not limited to the combination of parts and / or elements shown in the embodiments. The disclosure can be implemented in various combinations. The disclosure may have additional parts that can be added to the embodiments. The disclosure encompasses embodiments that omit parts and / or elements. The disclosure encompasses the replacement or combination of parts and / or elements between one embodiment and another. The disclosed technical scope is not limited to the description of the embodiments. Some of the disclosed technical ranges are indicated by the description of the claims, and should be construed to include all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the description of the claims.

  REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 air conditioner for vehicle, 2 air conditioner case, 41 foot door, 42 foot duct, 43 front foot door (blow-out changing device), 44 front foot duct, 45 front foot outlet (first outlet), 54 rear foot duct, 55 Rear foot outlet (second outlet), 60 vehicles, 61 front seats, 62 rear seats, 65 front seat direction sensor, 75 front seat direction switch, 80 air conditioning control unit, 256 center foot door (balloon change device), 257 center Foot duct, 259 Center foot outlet (second outlet)

Claims (10)

A vehicle air conditioner (1) mounted on a vehicle (60) having a front seat (61) and a rear seat (62),
A first outlet (45) that blows out conditioned air to an occupant seated in the front seat in a first state in which the front seat faces forward of the vehicle;
A second outlet (55, 259) that blows out conditioned air to an occupant seated in the front seat in a second state in which the front seat faces rearward of the vehicle;
A balloon changing device (43, 256) for changing a position for blowing the conditioned air;
When the signal indicating that the front seat is in the second state is obtained, the first outlet is closed, or when the signal indicating that the front seat is in the first state is obtained. An air conditioner for a vehicle, comprising: an air conditioning controller (80) that controls the blowout changing device so as to blow out conditioned air from the second blowout opening by narrowing an opening of the first blowout opening.   The second outlet is an outlet capable of blowing conditioned air to an occupant seated in the rear seat when the front seat is in the first state, wherein the front seat is in the second state. 2. The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein, when a signal indicating that the air conditioner is obtained, air-conditioning air is blown out to both the occupant seated in the front seat and the occupant seated in the rear seat.   The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 2, wherein the second outlet is a rear foot outlet (55) that blows out conditioned air at the feet of a passenger sitting in the rear seat.   The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 3, wherein the rear foot outlet is provided at a position closer to a rear end of the front seat in the second state than a front end of the rear seat.   The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 4, wherein the rear foot outlet blows out conditioned air from a front side to a rear side of the vehicle. A rear foot outlet (55) for blowing out conditioned air at the feet of an occupant seated in the rear seat;
The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the second outlet (259) is an outlet different from the rear foot outlet.   The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 6, wherein the second outlet is located rearward of the vehicle with respect to the rear foot outlet. A front seat direction switch (75) for inputting whether the front seat is in the first state or the second state by an occupant;
The air conditioning control unit according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the air conditioning control unit determines whether the front seat is in the first state or the second state based on a signal output from the front seat direction switch. An air conditioner for a vehicle according to any one of the claims. A front seat direction sensor (65) for detecting whether the front seat is in the first state or the second state;
8. The air conditioning control unit according to claim 1, wherein the air conditioning control unit determines whether the front seat is in the first state or the second state based on a signal output from the front seat direction sensor. 9. An air conditioner for a vehicle according to any one of the claims. A front seat direction switch (75) for inputting whether the front seat is in the first state or the second state by an occupant;
A front seat direction sensor (65) for detecting whether the front seat is in the first state or the second state,
The air-conditioning control unit may prioritize a signal output from the front seat direction switch over a signal output from the front seat direction sensor, and the front seat may be in the first state or the second state. The vehicle air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the air conditioner determines whether the air conditioner is in the air conditioner.

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