JP3181334B2 - Vehicle 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 an air conditioner for a vehicle comprising air flow control means capable of controlling the air flow blown into a passenger compartment by both automatic control and manual control.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 2-262417, a vehicle air conditioner configured to be able to control the amount of air blown into a vehicle compartment by both automatic control and manual control is known. Are known.

In such a vehicle air conditioner, usually,
Manual control is set to have a higher priority than automatic control. Therefore, for example, when the automatic control mode button is pressed in the air-conditioning operation unit and the air flow is automatically controlled, the air flow is also manually set in the air-conditioning operation unit. When the large button is pressed, the air volume control means performs air volume control so as to have an air volume corresponding to the large air volume button. If the air volume corresponding to
The air volume will be increased.

[0004]

In the above-described air conditioner, the manual setting button of the air volume may be erroneously pushed during the automatic air volume control. When the air volume by the manual setting button is larger, the air volume is suddenly increased by pressing the manual setting button, and the occupant feels discomfort or discomfort.

[0005] In general, when the heat load (the amount of heat per unit time to be supplied to or removed from the cabin required to bring the cabin to the temperature set by the occupant, ie, the target temperature), is large. When increasing the air flow, it is desirable to perform control so that the air flow is rapidly increased to reach the target temperature sooner.However, when the air flow is increased when the heat load is small, even if the air flow is gradually increased, Since the target temperature can be set in a short time, it is desirable to gradually increase the air flow so as not to give the occupant a feeling of discomfort or discomfort due to a sudden increase in the air flow.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above circumstances, the present invention is intended to prevent a sudden increase in the air volume when the air volume is erroneously increased by manual control during the automatic air volume control, thereby eliminating the discomfort or discomfort of the occupant. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicular air conditioner that can be used.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention is a vehicle air conditioner comprising air flow control means for controlling air flow by automatic control and manual control in order to achieve the above object. A heat load detecting means for detecting a heat load in a vehicle cabin during air conditioning, wherein the air volume control means comprises:
When the air volume is increased by the manual control during the air volume control by the automatic control, the air volume is increased at a smaller air volume increase rate when the heat load is small compared to when the heat load is large by receiving the output from the thermal load detection means. Is increased.

When the air flow is controlled by the manual control during the air flow control by the automatic control when the blow mode is the defrost mode, the air flow control means controls the air flow at a different air flow increase rate depending on the magnitude of the heat load. The control for increasing the air volume may not be performed, and the air volume may be increased at a predetermined air volume increase rate set in advance.

[0009]

According to the present invention, when the heat load in the vehicle compartment is large, it is expected that the air volume is increased by manual control in order to quickly reach the desired air conditioning condition. However, the vehicle compartment becomes almost close to the desired air conditioning condition. When the air conditioning is in a stable state, that is, when the heat load in the vehicle compartment is small, it is considered that there is almost no possibility of increasing the air volume by manual control,
Therefore, it is considered that most of the increase in the air volume based on the manual control when the heat load is small is due to the erroneous manual control.

[0010] As described above, the vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention, when the air flow is increased based on the manual control during the air flow control by the automatic control, when the heat load in the vehicle compartment is small, when the heat load is large, It is configured to increase the air volume at a smaller air volume increase rate, so if the heat load is small with a high probability of accidentally trying to increase the air volume by manual control, it will be more gradual than if it is not. The air volume can be increased, thereby preventing a sudden increase in the air volume when the air volume is erroneously attempted to be increased by manual control, and thereby eliminating the discomfort and discomfort of the occupant.

Further, the air conditioner for a vehicle according to the present invention, as described above, can rapidly respond to the desire of an occupant to quickly attain a desired air condition because the air flow is rapidly increased when the heat load is large. Also, especially when the heat load that does not need to rapidly increase the airflow is small, the airflow is gradually increased, so that the occupant does not feel uncomfortable or uncomfortable due to the sudden increase in the airflow, which is extremely reasonable. Air volume control becomes possible.

The defrost mode is a mode for removing the fogging of the window glass. If the air flow is required to be increased by manual control when the defrost mode is set, the air flow is immediately increased and the fogging is quickly performed. It is desirable to perform the removal. Therefore, when the airflow control means is in the defrost mode, the control for increasing the airflow at a different airflow increase rate depending on the magnitude of the heat load is not performed, and the airflow is increased at a predetermined large airflow increase rate set in advance. With this configuration, it is possible to always quickly increase the air volume, and to achieve good defogging.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

The vehicle air conditioner shown in FIG. 1 has a blower unit 4 having a blower 2, a cooler unit 8 having an evaporator 6, and a heater unit having a heater core 10.
12 is provided.

The blower unit 4 has an inside air introduction port 16 and an outside air introduction port 18, and an inside / outside air switching damper 20 that opens one of the inside air introduction port 16 and the outside air introduction port 18 and closes the other. An actuator 22 for switching the switching damper 20 is provided.

The heater unit 12 has a heat outlet 2
4. A defrost outlet 26 and a vent outlet 28 are formed, and each outlet 24, 26, 28 is a heat outlet opened toward the vehicle interior through a duct (not shown).
It is connected to a defrost outlet and a vent outlet.

The heat outlet 24 and the defrost outlet 26
And each outlet 2 near the vent outlet 28.
A heat mode damper 30, a defrost mode damper 32, and a vent mode damper 34 for opening and closing 4, 26, 28 are provided, and each mode damper 30, 32, 34 is a heater unit.
The openings are adjusted in conjunction with each other by actuators 36 provided on the 12.

Further, the heater unit 12 is provided with an air mix damper 38 located in a passage on the upstream side of the heater core 10 and a sub damper 40 located in a passage on the downstream side of the heater core 10. Both dampers 38,
The openings 40 are adjusted in conjunction with each other by an actuator 42 provided in the heater unit 12.

The evaporator 6 and the heater core 10 are a known heat exchanger for cooling and a known heat exchanger, respectively.

In the air conditioning unit 14, the inside air (air in the vehicle compartment) or the outside air (air outside the vehicle) is sucked by the operation of the blower 2 in the blower unit 4, and the sucked air passes through the cooler unit 8. The air is sent to the heater unit 12 and is appropriately cooled and heated by the evaporator 6 and the heater core 10 in the cooler unit 8 and the heater unit 12. Thereafter, the air is sent out from predetermined outlets 24, 26, 28 of the heater unit 12, and a duct (not shown) The air is blown into the vehicle interior from a predetermined outlet opening toward the vehicle interior.

The air conditioning unit 14 is controlled by control means 50. That is, the control means 50 controls the air introduction mode, the blowout mode, the blowout temperature, the amount of blown air, and the like.
The control means 50 includes an outside air temperature sensor 52 for detecting an outside air temperature (outside the vehicle) in order to control the air conditioning unit 14;
An internal air temperature sensor 54 for detecting the internal air temperature (air temperature in the vehicle interior), a solar radiation amount sensor 56 for detecting the internal solar radiation amount, and an air conditioning operation unit
The output from 60 is input.

The air-conditioning operation unit 60 includes a start button 62 for operating and stopping the air conditioner, a blow-off mode setting button 64 for setting a blow-off mode, and an air flow rate setting button 66 for setting an air flow rate. An inside / outside air switching button 68 for switching the air introduction mode between the inside air introduction mode and the outside air introduction mode, an automatic mode button 70 for setting the automatic control mode, and a temperature setting slider for setting the target indoor temperature. 72 are provided.

As shown in the figure, the blow mode selection button 64 includes a vent mode setting button V for setting a vent mode (a mode in which air is blown only from the vent air outlet) and a bi-level mode (only a vent air outlet and a heat air outlet). A bi-level mode setting button B / L for setting a blowing mode) and a heat mode setting button H for setting a heat mode (a mode for blowing only from a heat outlet).
A differential heat mode setting button D / H for setting a differential heat mode (a mode for blowing out only from the defrost air outlet and the heat air outlet), and a defrost mode setting button D for setting a defrost mode (a mode for blowing out only from the defrost air outlet). Consisting of

[0024] The air volume setting button 56, the setting and small wind amount setting button L _O to set the small wind amount, and small and medium-sized air volume setting button M _L to set the small wind amount of out of paralytic amount, a large volume of air out of the paralytic amount A large air volume setting button _MH for setting a large air volume and a large air volume setting button Hi for setting a large air volume.

The temperature setting slider 72 is slidable in the left-right direction in the figure, and by sliding the slider 72 to a predetermined position in the left-right direction, the temperature corresponding to the predetermined position (the left end in the figure is the lowest temperature). , And the temperature rises toward the right side, and the right end is the highest temperature) is set as the target room temperature.

The control by the control means 50 can be both manual control and automatic control. The automatic control is performed when the automatic control mode is set by the automatic mode button 70. Such automatic control is performed by the sensors 52 and 5 described above.
Based on the outside air temperature, the inside air temperature, the amount of solar radiation input from 4 and 56, and the target indoor temperature set by the temperature setting slider 72, the blowing mode, the air volume, the air introducing mode, and the blowing temperature are set. The air conditioning unit 14 is controlled as described below.

That is, in the blow mode, the actuator is operated in accordance with the set predetermined blow mode.
Each mode damper 30, 32, 34 via a link mechanism by 36
Are appropriately opened and closed, and only the outlets 24, 26, 28 corresponding to the set predetermined blowing mode are opened. In the automatic control according to the present embodiment, any one of the vent mode, the barrel mode, and the heat mode is selected as the blowing mode.

With respect to the air volume, a voltage (a target blower voltage) corresponding to the predetermined air volume is supplied to the blower 2, and the blower 2 rotates according to the voltage to thereby set the predetermined air volume. Is suction-introduced and delivered.

In the air introduction mode, when the set air introduction mode is the inside air introduction mode, the inside air / outside air switching damper 20 is set to the outside air introduction port closing position by the actuator 22, and the inside air introduction port 16 passes through the inside air introduction port. Only when suction is performed, and when the outside air introduction mode is set, the inside / outside air switching damper 20
Is set to the inside air inlet closing position, and only outside air is sucked and introduced from the outside air inlet 18. In the automatic control according to the present embodiment, the outside air introduction mode is set except during the rapid cooling.

The temperature of the blown air is adjusted so that the temperature in the cabin becomes equal to the target room temperature. The temperature of the blown air is adjusted by turning on / off a compressor (not shown) connected to the evaporator 6 and changing the ratio of air passing through the heater core 10 to air not passing through the air mix damper 38 to adjust the temperature of the air. This is performed by appropriately performing feedback control of the opening degree of the sub damper 40.

The manual control is performed when the automatic control mode is not set by the automatic mode button 70. In this case, the blow mode, the air volume, and the air introduction mode are respectively set by the blow mode setting button 64 and the air volume setting button. The air conditioning unit 14 is set by the button 66 and the inside / outside air switching button 68, and the air conditioning unit 14 is set to the predetermined air blow mode, air volume (target blower voltage), and air introduction mode set by the buttons 64, 66, 68. The control is performed by the control means 50 in the same manner as the control.

In the case of manual control, the same control as in the above automatic control is performed on the basis of the inside air temperature, the outside air temperature, and the target room temperature set by the temperature setting slider 72 even in the case of manual control.

Next, the case where the air volume is changed by manual control during automatic control will be described. In the air conditioner, when the air volume is manually controlled by the air volume setting button 66 during the automatic control, the manual control takes precedence, and the control means (air volume control means) 50 is set by the air volume setting button 66. The voltage (blower voltage) supplied to the blower 2 is changed to a voltage (target blower voltage) corresponding to the set air volume in order to obtain the air volume.

The control means 50 includes a heat load detecting means 80 for detecting a heat load in the vehicle cabin. When the air flow is changed by manual control during the automatic control, if the change is an increasing change, the heat load is changed. When the heat load detected by the load detection means 80 is small, the air flow is increased and changed at a small air flow increase rate compared to when the heat load is large.

In the case where the air volume is increased and changed by manual control during the automatic control and the defrost mode or the heat defrost mode is set by manual control, The control is not performed to increase the air volume at a different air volume increase rate depending on the magnitude of the load, but is increased at a predetermined large air volume increase rate set in advance.

The above-mentioned heat load means the amount of heat per unit time to be supplied to or removed from the cabin necessary for keeping the cabin at the target set temperature. In this embodiment, the heat load detecting means 80 is used. Consists of the sensors 52, 54, and 56, the temperature setting slider 72, and the heat load calculation unit 82 in the control unit 50. The heat load calculation unit 82 controls the outside air temperature, the inside air temperature, the amount of insolation, and the target indoor temperature. The heat load is calculated according to a predetermined calculation formula based on.

An example of the above air volume control will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. 2 and a graph shown in FIG.
First, in S1, the outside air temperature, the inside air temperature, the amount of solar radiation, and the target indoor temperature are read, and based on those data, S2 is executed.
Is used to calculate the vehicle compartment heat load. Next, in S3, it is determined whether or not the air volume is automatically controlled, and in the case of automatic control, the process returns to S1. If the control is not the automatic control, that is, if the air flow has shifted from the automatic control to the manual control, the process proceeds to S4, and it is determined whether the target blower voltage has changed. If the air volume has not changed, the air volume set by the manual control is the same as the air volume set by the automatic control up to that point, and the process returns to S4.

When the target blower voltage changes, the air volume set by the manual control is different from the air volume set by the automatic control up to that point. In this case, the process proceeds to S5,
It is determined whether or not the target blower voltage has increased. If it has not risen, it has decreased, in this case S
Proceed to 12 to rapidly reduce the blower voltage to the target blower voltage.

On the other hand, when the target blower voltage rises, S
6 to determine whether the blow mode is the defrost mode. If the blow mode is the defrost mode, the process proceeds to S9 to rapidly increase the blower voltage to the target blower voltage (the predetermined change larger than the first and second change rates described below). Increase by rate). In cases other than the defrost mode, the process proceeds to S7, and it is determined whether or not the amount of increase in the target blower voltage is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. In the present embodiment, as the predetermined value, the blower voltage increase amount when the airflow is increased by two steps in the four-step airflow by the manual control is set.

When the target voltage rise amount is smaller than the predetermined value, the process proceeds to S10, where the blower voltage is first gradually increased to the target blower voltage (increase based on the first voltage change rate). If the target voltage rise amount is equal to or more than the predetermined value, the process proceeds to S8,
Therefore, it is determined whether or not the compartment heat load is smaller than a predetermined value. If it is equal to or more than the predetermined value, the process proceeds to S10, where the blower voltage is first gradually increased to the target blower voltage. If the value is smaller than the predetermined value, the process proceeds to S11, where the blower voltage is increased gradually to the target blower voltage by a second gradually (increase based on the second voltage change rate smaller than the first voltage change rate).

Sudden increase in S9, S10, S11, first
FIG. 3 shows an example of the gradual increase and the second gradual increase. In the present embodiment, the first gradual increase is also applied to an increase in the blower voltage when the air conditioner is started.

In general, when the heat load in the passenger compartment is large, it is expected that the air volume is increased by the manual control in order to quickly reach the desired air-conditioning condition. When the air conditioning is in a stable state, that is, when the heat load in the passenger compartment is small, it is considered that there is almost no possibility of increasing the air flow by manual control. Therefore, the air flow based on the manual control when the heat load is small is considered. Most of the increase is thought to be due to incorrect manual control.

As described above, in the vehicle air conditioner, when the air flow is increased based on the manual control during the air flow control by the automatic control, when the heat load in the vehicle interior is small, it is smaller than when it is large. Since it is configured to increase the air volume at the air volume increase rate, if the heat load is small, which is likely to increase the air volume by manual control by mistake, the air volume is increased more gently than otherwise. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent a sudden increase in the air flow when the air flow is erroneously attempted to be increased by the manual control, thereby eliminating the discomfort and discomfort of the occupant.

In addition, the vehicle air conditioner can respond to the desire of the occupant to quickly attain a desired air condition because the air flow is rapidly increased when the heat load is large as described above. It is not necessary to rapidly increase the air volume.When the heat load is small, the air volume is increased gently, so that the occupants do not feel uncomfortable or uncomfortable due to the sudden increase in the air volume, enabling extremely rational air volume control. Becomes

The defrost mode is a mode for removing the fogging of the window glass. If the air flow is required to be increased by the manual control when the defrost mode is set, the air flow is immediately increased and the fog is quickly increased. It is desirable to perform the removal. Therefore, when the air flow control means is in the defrost mode as described above, the control for increasing the air flow at a different air flow increase rate depending on the magnitude of the heat load is not performed, and the air flow is controlled at a predetermined extremely large air flow increase rate. , It is possible to always achieve a rapid increase in the air volume, and to achieve good defogging.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing one embodiment of a vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing air volume control in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a graph showing an example of rapid increase, first gradual increase, and second gradual increase in the flowchart shown in FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

 50 Air flow control means 80 Heat load detection means

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An air conditioner for a vehicle, comprising air flow control means for controlling air flow by automatic control and manual control, comprising: heat load detection means for detecting a heat load in a vehicle compartment during air conditioning. The air volume control means, when increasing the air volume by the manual control during the air volume control by the automatic control, receives an output from the heat load detection means, and when the heat load is small, the heat load is small as compared to when it is large An air conditioner for a vehicle, wherein the air conditioner is configured to increase the air flow at an air flow increase rate. 2. The air volume control means according to claim 1, wherein, when the blowing mode is a defrost mode, when the air volume is increased by the manual control during the air volume control by the automatic control, the air volume is increased at different rates depending on the magnitude of the heat load. The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the air conditioner is configured to increase the air volume at a predetermined air volume increase rate set beforehand without performing the control for increasing the air volume.