JP2906699B2 - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle air conditioner for cooling and heating a vehicle interior.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in an automobile, an air conditioner utilizing the power of an engine and the heat of the engine controls the temperature, humidity, and the like in the passenger compartment to perform cooling and heating. As shown in FIG. 8, this type of air conditioner includes a heater unit 92 for heating and an evaporator 94 as a cooler unit for cooling.
And The heater unit 92 is connected to an engine 91 by a circuit 93, and supplies hot water for cooling the engine from the engine 91 to the heater unit 92. Then, the air in the heater unit 92 is heated by the amount of heat released from the hot water, and this air is sent into the vehicle interior by a blower (not shown) to perform heating.

The evaporator 94 includes a compressor 95 which rotates by the power of the engine and a condenser 9.
6 and an expansion valve 97 are connected in series to form a refrigeration circuit 98. Then, the heat of the outside air is removed by the vaporized refrigerant in the evaporator 94 to perform the cooling.

[0004]

However, in the conventional air conditioner, it is necessary to increase the capacity of the evaporator in order to ensure the maximum cooling performance at the time of cooling down.
This point will be described in detail. In general, the evaporator's capacity is most needed for maximum cooling performance during cool-down in hot summer weather. Therefore, at the time of cool down, an evaporator that provides several times the performance of regular use is required. Therefore, in the current evaporator, the capacity is increased to correspond to the maximum cooling performance at the time of cooling down. The same is true for the heater unit. In order to improve the maximum heating performance, it is necessary to increase the capacity of the heater unit.

[0005] However, if the capacity of the evaporator and the heater unit is increased, problems such as a large mounting space for an air conditioner are required. The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and aims to provide an air conditioner that is compact and has excellent maximum cooling and heating performance.

[0006]

The present invention relates to a heater unit connected to an engine by a first circuit and supplied with hot water for cooling the engine, a water-cooled evaporator for cooling water with a refrigerant circulating in a refrigeration cycle, and the water-cooled evaporator. A cooler unit connected to the second circuit and receiving a supply of cold water, a pump for driving a water system disposed on the second circuit, and a supply flow path switching between the first circuit and the second circuit. And a second switching valve for switching the return flow path, supplying cold water to both the heater unit and the cooler unit at the time of maximum cooling, and to both the heater unit and the cooler unit at the time of maximum heating. An air conditioner is configured to supply hot water.

The most remarkable point of the present invention is that the heater unit is used in summer and the evaporator as a cooler unit is hardly used in winter, so that they can be shared. It is in. In the present invention, the heater unit and the cooler unit refer to a device for exchanging heat with air in a vehicle cabin, and a concrete structure thereof includes, for example, a fin for heat exchange (see FIG. 5). . The heater unit and the cooler unit may be formed separately or may be formed integrally (FIG. 5).

In the present invention, in order to share the heater unit and the cooler unit, water is used as the fluid to be supplied to the cooler unit instead of the conventional CFC. This water includes water to which long life coolant (LLC) has been added. A water-cooled evaporator is used to cool the water. The water-cooled evaporator constitutes a refrigeration cycle together with a compressor, a condenser, and an expansion valve, and cools water with Freon as a refrigerant circulating through the refrigeration cycle. Further, a first switching valve for switching the flow path at the time of supply and a second switching valve for switching the flow path at the time of return are used. When maximum cooling performance or maximum heating performance is required, the flow of water is switched by both switching valves to supply cold water or hot water to both the heater unit and the cooler unit.

[0009]

In the present invention, for example, during normal heating using only the heater unit, hot water for cooling the engine is supplied from the engine to the heater unit via the first circuit. The heater unit exchanges heat with the air passing through the heater unit and supplies warm air to the passenger compartment. During normal cooling, the water is cooled by a water-cooled evaporator constituting a refrigeration cycle, and cold water is supplied from the water-cooled evaporator to the cooler unit via the second circuit. The cooler unit exchanges heat with the air passing through the cooler unit and supplies cool air to the vehicle interior.

At the time of maximum cooling, the first switching valve and the second switching valve are switched to shut off the connection between the engine and the heater unit, and the water-cooled evaporator is connected to both the heater unit and the cooler unit. Then, cold water is supplied from the water-cooled evaporator to both the heater unit and the cooler unit. Thereby, air cooling is performed in both the heater unit and the cooler unit. Therefore, the maximum cooling performance is improved. Further, the capacity of the heater unit and the cooler unit can be reduced.

At the time of maximum heating, the first switching valve and the second switching valve
The switching valve is switched to shut off the connection between the water-cooled evaporator and the cooler unit, and connect the engine to both the heater unit and the cooler unit. And
Hot water is supplied from the engine to both the heater unit and the cooler unit. Thereby, air heating is performed in both the heater unit and the cooler unit. for that reason,
The maximum heating performance is improved, and the capacities of the heater unit and the cooler unit can be reduced. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a compact air conditioner having excellent maximum cooling and heating performance.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 1, a heater unit 21 connected to an engine 91 by a first circuit 11 and supplied with hot water for cooling the engine is provided.
And a water-cooled evaporator 3 for cooling water by a refrigerant circulating in the refrigeration cycle 30, a cooler unit 22 connected to the water-cooled evaporator 3 by the second circuit 12 and receiving a supply of cold water, and disposed on the second circuit 12. It comprises a water system drive pump 4, a first switching valve 51 for switching the supply flow path, and a second switching valve 52 for switching the return flow path, which are provided between the first circuit 11 and the second circuit 12. During the maximum cooling, the cooling water is supplied to both the heater unit 21 and the cooler unit 22.
The hot water is supplied to both the cooler unit 22 and the cooler unit 22.

The heater unit 21 and the cooler unit 22 are integrally formed as shown in FIG.
The heater unit 21 has an inlet pipe 211 and an outlet pipe 212. The inlet pipe 211 and the outlet pipe 212 are connected to the first circuit 11 so as to supply hot water or cold water into the heater unit 21 through the pipes 211 and 212. Similarly, the cooler unit 22 has an inlet pipe 221 and an outlet pipe 222 for connecting to the second circuit 12. In addition, both units 21 and 22 have fins 20,
The fins 20 allow heat exchange between water in both units 21 and 22 and air passing through both units 21 and 22.

The water-cooled evaporator 3 has a main body 31 as shown in FIG. A large number of thin tubes (not shown) are housed in the main body 31, and the refrigerant is vaporized in the thin tubes so as to remove the heat of the water in the main body 31. Both ends of the narrow tube are connected to a refrigerant inlet pipe 34 and a refrigerant outlet pipe 3.
5 is connected. An expansion valve 37 is connected to the refrigerant inlet pipe 34. A temperature sensing tube 36 is mounted on the refrigerant outlet pipe 35, and the temperature sensing tube 36 and the expansion valve 37 are connected by a control line 38.

As shown in FIG. 1, the water-cooled evaporator 3, the compressor 95, the condenser 96, and the expansion valve 37 are connected in series, and these constitute the refrigeration cycle 30. As shown in FIG. 6, the water-cooled evaporator 3 has a water inlet pipe 32 and a water outlet pipe 33, and is connected to the second circuit 12 via both pipes 32,33.

As shown in FIG. 7, the first switching valve 51 has a first solenoid valve 511, a second solenoid valve 512, and a third solenoid valve 513. The first solenoid valve 511 is connected to the first circuit 11
Arranged above. Further, the second solenoid valve 512 is disposed on the second circuit 12. The first circuit 11 and the second circuit 1
2 is connected by a connecting pipe 13, and a third solenoid valve 513 is connected to the connecting pipe 13. The second switching valve 52 has the same valve mechanism as the first switching valve 51. In addition, water as a heat medium used in this example includes:
LLC has been added.

The air conditioner of the present embodiment is configured as described above, and has the following operational effects. That is, in the normal state, the first solenoid valve 511 and the second solenoid valve 512 of the first switching valve 51 and the second switching valve 52 are turned on and the third solenoid valve 513 is turned off, as shown in FIGS. .
As a result, the first circuit 11 and the second circuit 12 become independent,
Cooling and heating according to the capacity of the heater unit 21 and the cooler unit 22 are performed. In this case, dehumidification is also performed.

When normal cooling is performed only by the cooler unit 22, the first solenoid valve 511 and the third solenoid valve 513 are turned off and the second solenoid valve 512 is turned on. As a result, only the second circuit 12 can be used.
Then, water is circulated through the second circuit 12 by the water system driving pump 4. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, the water-cooled evaporator 3 constituting the refrigeration cycle 30
Water flowing into the main body 31 through the circuit 12 is cooled by the refrigerant. The water cooled by the water-cooled evaporator 3 is supplied to the cooler unit 22 from the water-cooled evaporator 3 via the second circuit 12, as shown in FIG. The cooler unit 22 exchanges heat with air passing through the cooler unit 22 and supplies cool air to the vehicle interior.

When normal heating is performed only by the heater unit 21, as shown in FIG.
11 is turned on, the second solenoid valve 512 and the third solenoid valve 51 are turned on.
3 is turned OFF. Thus, as shown in FIG. 4, only the first circuit 11 can be used. Therefore, the first circuit 11
The hot water for cooling the engine is supplied from the engine 91 to the heater unit 21 via the. The heater unit 21
It exchanges heat with the air passing through it and supplies warm air to the vehicle interior.

At the time of maximum cooling, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 7, the first solenoid valve 511 is turned off, and the second solenoid valve 512 and the third solenoid valve 513 are turned on. This shuts off the connection between the engine 91 and the heater unit 21 and connects the water-cooled evaporator 3 to both the heater unit 21 and the cooler unit 22. Then, cold water is supplied from the water-cooled evaporator 3 to both the heater unit 21 and the cooler unit 22. Thereby, heat is exchanged in both the heater unit 21 and the cooler unit 22. Therefore, the maximum cooling performance is improved. Further, the capacity of the heater unit 21 and the cooler unit 22 can be reduced.

At the time of maximum heating, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 7, the first solenoid valve 511 and the third solenoid valve 513 are turned on.
And the second solenoid valve 512 is turned off. This gives
The communication between the water-cooled evaporator 3 and the cooler unit 22 is shut off, and the engine 91 is connected to both the heater unit 21 and the cooler unit 22. Then, hot water is supplied from the engine 91 to both the heater unit 21 and the cooler unit 22. Thereby, the heater unit 2
1 and the cooler unit 22 perform heat exchange.
Therefore, the maximum heating performance is improved, and the heater unit 21
In addition, the capacity of the cooler unit 22 can be reduced.

Further, as shown in FIG.
Since the air conditioner 1 and the cooler unit 22 are integrally formed, the air conditioner becomes more compact. Thus, according to this example, the maximum cooling / heating performance of the air conditioner can be significantly improved. Further, the air conditioner can be made compact.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of an air conditioner according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an operation explanatory diagram of the air conditioner of the embodiment at the time of maximum cooling.

FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory diagram of the air conditioner of the embodiment during maximum heating.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the air conditioner of the embodiment in a normal state.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an integrated heater unit and cooler unit of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a water-cooled evaporator of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a first switching valve of the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram of a conventional air conditioner.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11. . . First circuit, 12. . . Second circuit, 21. . . Heater unit, 22. . . 2. Cooler unit, . . 3. water-cooled evaporator, . . Water system drive pump, 51. . . First switching valve, 52. . . Second switching valve, 91. . . engine,

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A heater unit connected to an engine by a first circuit and receiving a supply of hot water for cooling the engine;
A water-cooled evaporator for cooling water by a refrigerant circulating in a refrigeration cycle, a cooler unit connected to the water-cooled evaporator by a second circuit to receive a supply of cold water, a water-system driving pump disposed on the second circuit, A first switching valve for switching the supply flow path and a second switching valve for switching the return flow path provided between the first circuit and the second circuit, and both the heater unit and the cooler unit are used during maximum cooling. An air conditioner characterized by supplying cold water to the heater and supplying hot water to both the heater unit and the cooler unit during maximum heating.