JP2023037325A - Air conditioner for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an air conditioner for a vehicle, that rotates a compressor at a rotation frequency with high energy consumption efficiency, in order to suppress power consumption of the compressor and prevent electric power from being wastefully consumed, when time to completion of battery charging is long in executing pre-air-conditioning during charging of the battery.SOLUTION: Provided is an air conditioner 20 for a vehicle, that has a pre-air-conditioning function for air conditioning inside a cabin before a user boards a vehicle 10. When pre-air-conditioning is executed during charging of a vehicular battery 30, the air conditioner implements pre-air-conditioning using a rotation frequency of an air-conditioning compressor 26 at which energy consumption efficiency of the compressor 26 is maximized, as an upper limit value, if time to charging completion of the battery 30 is equal to a prescribed time or longer.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a vehicle air conditioner having a pre-air conditioning function for air conditioning a vehicle interior before a user gets into the vehicle.

BACKGROUND ART Pre-air conditioning is known in which the interior of a vehicle is air-conditioned before a user gets into the vehicle. With pre-air conditioning, it is possible to operate the defroster to clear the fog on the windshield and the heater to warm the cabin in advance.

In vehicles such as electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles that use battery power as a driving source, the power consumption of the air conditioner used for pre-air conditioning depends on the battery and the external power source connected to the vehicle to charge the battery (external power source). power supply).

Patent Literature 1 describes a vehicle air conditioner that performs pre-air conditioning before a user gets in the vehicle.

JP 2013-212809 A

It is assumed that the user will not immediately enter the vehicle while the battery is charging. When pre-air conditioning is executed when it takes a long time to finish charging the battery, the compressor for air conditioning may rotate at high speed even though the user does not get in the vehicle immediately, resulting in power consumption. increases, resulting in wasteful power consumption.

The purpose of the present disclosure is to reduce the consumption of the compressor by rotating the compressor at a rotation speed with high energy consumption efficiency when pre-air conditioning is performed while the battery is being charged and the time until the end of battery charging is long. To provide a vehicle air conditioner capable of suppressing electric power and preventing wasteful consumption of electric power.

A vehicle air conditioner according to the present disclosure has a pre-air-conditioning function for air-conditioning the interior of a vehicle before a user gets into the vehicle. When the time until the air conditioning is equal to or longer than a predetermined time, pre-air conditioning is performed with the rotation speed of the air conditioning compressor set to the upper limit value at which the energy consumption efficiency of the compressor is maximized.

In the vehicle air conditioner according to the present disclosure, when charging the vehicle battery while pre-air conditioning is being performed, if it takes a long time to finish charging the battery, the number of rotations of the compressor for pre-air conditioning is reduced to energy consumption. Since the pre-air conditioning is performed with the number of revolutions at which the efficiency is maximized as the upper limit value, the power consumption of the compressor can be suppressed and wasteful power consumption can be prevented.

1 is a configuration diagram of a vehicle according to an embodiment; FIG. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a block diagram of the vehicle air conditioner of embodiment. It is a figure which shows the energy consumption efficiency of a compressor, and the relationship of rotation speed. 4 is an operation flowchart of the air conditioner ECU of the embodiment;

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following description, specific shapes, materials, directions, numerical values, etc. are examples for facilitating understanding of the present disclosure, and can be changed as appropriate according to usage, purpose, specifications, and the like. In addition, it is assumed from the beginning to selectively combine the constituent elements of the embodiments and modifications described below.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a vehicle 10 according to an embodiment. The vehicle 10 is an electric vehicle that drives a motor (not shown) with electric power supplied from a battery 30 and runs using the motor as power. The battery 30 also operates as a power supply source for each device of the vehicle 10 .

A vehicle 10 according to the present embodiment includes a vehicle air conditioner 20, a battery 30, a charging port 40, a charging control ECU 50, and a DCM 60.

The vehicle air conditioner 20 is a device that air-conditions the interior of the vehicle by applying the principle of a heat pump that combines refrigerant compression, expansion, and heat exchange. The vehicle air conditioner 20 includes an air conditioner ECU 21 that controls air conditioning, a compressor 26 that compresses refrigerant, an evaporator 27 as a heat exchanger, a condenser 28, and an expansion valve 29 (see FIG. 2). ), which is controlled by the air conditioner ECU 21 . Each device such as the compressor 26 is powered by a battery 30 .

A charging connector 120 is connected to the charging port 40 , and power is supplied from an external power source 100 via a charging cable 110 .

The charging device 41 is connected between the charging port 40 and the battery 30 , converts AC power supplied from the external power source 100 into DC power, and charges the battery 30 .

The charge control ECU 50 has a function of monitoring the state of charge of the battery 30 . In this embodiment, the charging control ECU 50 detects the state of the charging port 40 and detects the states of the charging device 41 and the battery 30, and detects the states of the charging device 41 and the battery 30, and detects whether or not the battery 30 is being charged. 30 has a charging time determination unit 52 for determining the time until the end of charging. The determination results of the charge determination unit 51 and the charging time determination unit 52 are transmitted to the air conditioner ECU 21 .

A DCM (Data Communication Module) 60 is a communication device capable of wireless communication with the outside of the vehicle. This embodiment has a function of receiving a pre-air conditioning operation instruction from the smartphone 70 of the user and transmitting the pre-air conditioning operation instruction to the air conditioner ECU 21 .

Here, ECUs (Electronic Control Units) such as the air conditioner ECU 21 and the charging control ECU 50 incorporate a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a memory (not shown). The ECU has a role of controlling each device of the vehicle 10 based on information stored in the memory and information from various sensors (not shown). In this embodiment, only the air conditioner ECU 21 and the charging control ECU 50 are shown. Although the vehicle 10 is also equipped with an ECU having functions other than these, they are omitted.

The user can operate the smartphone 70 to pre-air-condition the vehicle 10 before getting into the vehicle.

Next, the pre-air conditioning control in the vehicle air conditioner 20 of this embodiment will be described.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the vehicle air conditioner 20 . The vehicle air conditioner 20 includes an air conditioner ECU 21 that performs air conditioning control, and equipment such as a compressor 26 that is controlled by the air conditioner ECU 21 .

The air conditioner ECU 21 has a pre-air conditioning execution unit 22 , a temperature determination unit 23 , a normal control unit 24 and an energy saving control unit 25 . Each of these units is implemented by a program stored in a memory built in the air conditioner ECU 21 and executed by the CPU.

The air conditioner ECU 21 receives various data for executing air conditioning control. The air conditioner ECU 21 receives an operation instruction for pre-air conditioning from the DCM 60 . Further, the air conditioner ECU 21 receives battery charge information from the charging control ECU 50 and receives the vehicle interior temperature and vehicle exterior temperature from the temperature sensor 80 . Based on these received data, the air conditioner ECU 21 executes pre-air conditioning by the processing of each unit included in the air conditioner ECU 21 .

The pre-air conditioning execution unit 22 executes and stops pre-air conditioning. Specifically, pre-air conditioning is performed upon receiving an instruction to operate pre-air conditioning from the DCM 60 . Although the conditions for stopping pre-air conditioning are not limited in the present disclosure, for example, pre-air conditioning is stopped when the execution time of pre-air conditioning has passed for a certain period of time or longer.

The temperature determination unit 23 determines the vehicle interior temperature and the vehicle exterior temperature from the temperature sensor 80 . The determination result of the temperature is used for controlling the compressor 26 described later, specifically for determining the rotation speed of the compressor 26 .

The air conditioner ECU 21 performs control by switching between the normal control unit 24 and the energy saving control unit 25 based on the charging information of the battery 30 received from the charging control ECU 50 . Specifically, the control of the rotation speed of the compressor 26 is switched.

When information is received from the charge control ECU 50 that the battery 30 is not being charged, the normal control section 24 determines and controls the rotation speed of the compressor 26 . On the other hand, when information is received from the charge control ECU 50 that the battery 30 is being charged and the time until the end of charging is longer than the predetermined time, the energy saving control unit 25 determines and controls the rotation speed of the compressor 26 .

The normal control unit 24 determines the rotation speed of the compressor 26 so that the temperature in the passenger compartment reaches the target set temperature for pre-air conditioning. When the difference between the vehicle interior temperature and the target set temperature is large, the compressor 26 rotates at maximum power (maximum rotation speed).

Here, the compressor 26 is a device that compresses the refrigerant to a high temperature and a high pressure. The compressor 26 is driven by a motor, and the faster it rotates, the more heat it can exchange. On the other hand, the energy consumption efficiency of the compressor 26 reaches the maximum value COPmax at the rotational speed T0 unique to the compressor 26, and tends to decrease around the rotational speed T0 (see FIG. 3). Therefore, when the temperature difference between the vehicle interior temperature and the target set temperature is large, or when the defroster mode is set, under control by the normal control unit 24, pre-air conditioning is performed at a rotation speed higher than the rotation speed T0. , the energy consumption efficiency is low.

When charging the battery, the vehicle is normally used after it is fully charged. Therefore, if it takes a long time to finish charging the battery, it is considered that the user will not get into the vehicle for a while. In this case, if pre-air conditioning is performed by the normal control unit 24 even though the vehicle is not in use, the compressor 26 may be operated at a rotational speed higher than the rotational speed T0, resulting in wasted power consumption. may be consumed by Furthermore, if the charged power is used for pre-air conditioning, the time until the end of charging will be longer.

In the vehicle air conditioner 20 of the present embodiment, as described above, when the battery 30 is being charged and it is determined that the time until the end of charging is longer than the predetermined time, the energy saving control unit 25 turns on the compressor 26. Determines and controls the number of revolutions. Specifically, the energy-saving control unit 25 determines the rotation speed so that the operation is performed with the rotation speed T0 at which the energy consumption efficiency specific to the compressor 26 is maximized as the upper limit value. More specifically, control is performed so that the upper limit value of the rotation speed of the compressor 26 is lowered as compared with the case where the time until charging of the battery 30 is completed is less than the predetermined time. In situations where it takes a long time to finish charging, there is no need to rapidly adjust the vehicle interior temperature to the target set temperature by pre-air conditioning. can be reduced.

Detection of the state of charge of the battery 30 is performed as follows. Whether or not the battery 30 is being charged is detected by monitoring the state of the charge port 40 by the charge determination unit 51 of the charge control ECU 50 . A charging time determining unit 52 of the charging control ECU 50 calculates the time until charging of the battery 30 ends from the amount of charge of the charging device 41 and the remaining battery capacity of the battery 30 . The calculated time until the end of charging of the battery 30 is transmitted to the air conditioner ECU 21 .

When the time until the end of charging of the battery 30 is received from the charging control ECU 50, the air conditioner ECU 21 controls the energy saving control unit 25 to adjust the rotation speed of the compressor 26 so that the energy consumption efficiency is high. Pre-air conditioning is performed with the maximum rotational speed T0 as the upper limit. As a result, pre-air conditioning can be performed without wasting power.

Control of pre-air conditioning of the vehicle air conditioner 20 of the present embodiment will be described with a specific example.

When pre-air-conditioning is performed, the temperature in the vehicle interior reaches the target temperature in about 10 minutes to several tens of minutes, although it depends on the temperature in the vehicle interior and the temperature outside the vehicle. Therefore, the time required for pre-air conditioning is on the order of several tens of minutes. In the control by the normal control unit 24 for pre-air conditioning, the compressor 26 is operated at the maximum rotational speed corresponding to the target temperature in order to rapidly reach the target temperature in the passenger compartment.

The time required to charge the battery 30 varies depending on the remaining amount of the battery 30 at the start of charging and the charging capacity of the charging device 41, but generally takes several hours. Therefore, the time required for charging the battery 30 is about several times to ten and several times longer than the time required for pre-air conditioning.

Consider the case where the battery 30 is being charged and it takes several hours to finish charging. Here, it is assumed that the user instructs pre-air conditioning from smartphone 70 .

As described above, charging of the battery 30 does not end even when the temperature reaches the set temperature by pre-air conditioning under normal control. Therefore, the vehicle is not used, and pre-air conditioning is continued so as to maintain the temperature in the vehicle interior, resulting in wasteful power consumption. Moreover, when the defroster mode is set or when the heating is set, the compressor 26 rotates near the maximum rotation speed of the output setting, so the power consumption is large and the energy consumption efficiency is low.

Therefore, when the vehicle air conditioner 20 of the present embodiment detects that the battery 30 is being charged and determines that it takes a predetermined time (for example, one hour) or more to finish charging, Specifically, the compressor 26 is set so that the rotation speed T0 corresponding to the maximum energy consumption efficiency is set to the upper limit value, as compared with the case where the time until the charging of the battery 30 is completed is less than the predetermined time. The compressor 26 is controlled so that the upper limit of the rotation speed of the compressor 26 is lowered.

In the pre-air conditioning of the vehicle air conditioner 20 of the present embodiment, wasteful consumption of energy by the compressor 26 is suppressed. Furthermore, when the vehicle is not used because the battery is being charged, air conditioning (cooling or heating) in the vehicle interior is not performed earlier than necessary, so power consumption is reduced. In addition, since power is not used more than necessary for pre-air conditioning, the battery is quickly charged.

Next, an operation flowchart of the air conditioner ECU 21 will be described with reference to FIG.

When the user instructs pre-air conditioning via the smartphone 70, the air conditioner ECU 21 receives an operation instruction for pre-air conditioning from the DCM 60, and the pre-air conditioning execution unit 22 starts pre-air conditioning.

Next, the air conditioner ECU 21 determines whether or not the battery 30 is being charged based on charging information from the charging control ECU 50 (step S1). When it is determined that the battery 30 is not being charged, the normal control unit 24 operates the compressor 26 at a rotational speed determined for the target temperature in order to perform pre-air conditioning under normal control (step S3).

If it is determined in step S1 that the battery 30 is being charged, it is determined whether the time until the end of charging of the battery 30 is longer than a predetermined time (for example, 1 hour) based on the charging information from the charging control ECU 50. (Step S2). When it is determined that the time until the end of charging of the battery 30 is equal to or less than the predetermined time, the normal control unit 24 operates the compressor 26 at a rotational speed determined for the target temperature (step S3).

When it is determined in step S2 that the time until the end of charging of the battery 30 is longer than the predetermined time, the air conditioner ECU 21 causes the energy saving control section 25 to operate the compressor 26 (step S4). As described above, the control by the energy-saving control unit 25 operates the compressor 26 at a rotation speed with the rotation speed T0 at which the energy consumption efficiency of the compressor 26 is maximized as an upper limit.

It should be noted that the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments and modifications thereof, and it goes without saying that various modifications and improvements are possible within the scope of the matters described in the claims of the present application. .

10 vehicle, 20 vehicle air conditioner, 21 air conditioner ECU, 22 pre-air conditioning execution unit, 23 temperature determination unit, 24 normal control unit, 25 energy saving control unit, 26 compressor, 27 evaporator, 28 condenser, 29 expansion valve, 30 battery, 40 charging port, 41 charging device, 50 charging control ECU, 51 charging determination unit, 52 charging time determination unit, 60 DCM, 70 smartphone, 80 temperature sensor, 100 external power supply, 110 charging cable, 120 charging connector

Claims (1)

A vehicle air conditioner having a pre-air conditioning function for air conditioning a vehicle interior before a user gets on the vehicle,
When the pre-air conditioning is performed while the vehicle battery is being charged, if the time until the charging of the battery is completed is equal to or longer than a predetermined time, the rotation speed of the air conditioning compressor is adjusted to the energy consumption efficiency of the compressor. Executes the pre-air conditioning with the rotation speed at which the maximum is the upper limit value,
Vehicle air conditioner.

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