JP3279012B2 - 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 a vehicle for arranging a cooling heat exchanger in an air duct and blowing cooling air into a vehicle compartment from a vent outlet provided at the most downstream side of the air duct. It relates to an air conditioner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an air conditioner for a vehicle of this type, the odorous substances (dust and mold generated on the heat exchanger) adhering to a heat exchanger are diffused into an air duct when the operation is stopped.
Due to the stagnation, air with an unpleasant odor may be blown out at the time of restart of operation, and the unpleasant odor as described above causes discomfort to the occupant when the blown wind is directed at the occupant's face. The point is pointed out.

In order to cope with such a problem, an air conditioner for an automobile as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-54316 has been proposed. That is,
This device is provided with an air conditioning duct formed with a vent outlet opening toward the vicinity of the occupant's face and other outlets (foot outlets or external outlets leading to the outside of the vehicle). During a period until the temperature of the heat exchanger becomes equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature (a period during which an unusual odor is likely to occur), air is blown out from outlets other than the vent outlet.

[0004]

Generally, during cooling operation by a vehicle air conditioner, in order to efficiently lower the temperature in the vehicle interior, it is necessary to blow cooling air from a vent outlet. The advantages are well known. However, in the device of the conventional configuration, a state in which the cooling air is not blown out from the vent outlet, that is, a state in which the temperature in the passenger compartment cannot be efficiently reduced, until a predetermined time elapses after the start of the cooling operation. Therefore, there is a problem that the cooling speed in the passenger compartment is reduced by that much. In short, in the conventional configuration, although it is possible to prevent the air-conditioning wind containing the unpleasant odor from being blown out toward the occupants, there is a situation that the cooling effect in the passenger compartment is less effective, and the occupants exhibit the cooling effect early. However, there is a problem that this cannot be realized even if it is desired to be performed.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to reliably prevent a situation in which conditioned air containing an unpleasant odor is blown toward a passenger's face at the beginning of a cooling operation. It is another object of the present invention to provide an air conditioner for a vehicle that can exhibit a cooling effect in a vehicle compartment at an early stage.

[0006]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a cooling heat exchanger is disposed in an air duct, and a vehicle is provided from a vent outlet provided at the most downstream side of the air duct. In a vehicle air conditioner configured to blow cooling air into a room, a wind direction changing unit configured to change a blowing direction of the cooling wind from the vent outlet, and a drive for operating the wind direction changing unit. Means,
Determining means for determining whether or not the heat exchanger satisfies a predetermined off-flavor generation condition; and, when it is determined that the off-flavor generation condition is satisfied by the determining means during a cooling operation state, through the driving means. A control means is provided for changing the direction in which the cooling air is blown out from the vent outlet by operating the wind direction changing means so as to be away from the face of the occupant in the passenger compartment.

[0007]

When the heat exchanger satisfies the predetermined odor generation condition, the determination means determines that fact. In a state where such a determination has been made, when the cooling operation state in which the cooling air is blown out from the vent outlet,
In the control means, by operating the wind direction changing means through the driving means, control to change the blowing direction of the cooling air from the vent outlet to the direction avoiding the face of the occupant in the vehicle compartment. Will do it. As a result, the situation in which the conditioned air containing the off-flavor from the heat exchanger is blown out toward the occupant's face is prevented, and the occupant is not likely to feel unpleasant due to the off-flavor,
The temperature inside the vehicle compartment can be efficiently reduced by the cooling air blown out from the vent outlet.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 schematically shows a schematic cross-sectional structure and an electrical configuration of a main part of an automotive air conditioner. In FIG. 1, an air duct 2 included in an air conditioning unit 1 has a suction port 3 on the most upstream side selectively communicated with an outside air introduction port or an inside air introduction port (neither is shown), and has a most downstream side. The vent outlet duct 4 is connected to the opening 2a. The vent outlet duct 4 has four branch ducts each of which is a center outlet 4a located on the instrument panel of the automobile.
4b, a right outlet 4c, and a left outlet 4d (each corresponding to a vent outlet in the present invention). Although not shown, at the most downstream side of the air duct 2,
A heat outlet and a defroster outlet are provided.

The louvers 5a to 5d (corresponding to the wind direction changing means in the present invention) which are capable of changing the blowing direction are attached to the outlets 4a to 4d, respectively. Are rotated in, for example, the left and right directions by servo motors 6a to 6d (corresponding to driving means in the present invention) provided correspondingly. Each of the louvers 5a to 5d is configured to be rotatable in both left and right and up and down directions by manual operation.

A blower 7 is provided in the air duct 2 so as to correspond to the suction port 3. When the blower 7 is operated, the inside of the air duct 2 is moved from the suction port 3 side to each of the air outlets 4 a. Wind flowing in the direction of 4d is generated. In the air duct 2, an evaporator 8 (corresponding to a heat exchanger according to the present invention) for cooling the wind generated by the blower 7 is provided, and the evaporator 8 is provided downstream of the evaporator 8 for heating the wind. Heater core 9 is provided. Further, in the air duct 2, in addition to an air mix damper 10 and a vent outlet damper 11 which are rotated by a servo motor (not shown), an inside / outside air switching damper (not shown) and the like are provided.

The first sensor unit 12 detects the temperature T1 and the humidity W1 of the air upstream of the evaporator 8, and the second sensor unit 13 detects the temperature T1 of the air downstream of the evaporator 8.
2 and humidity W2, the temperature sensor 14 is provided to detect the temperature T3 of the evaporator 8 (specifically, the wall temperature of the refrigerant inflow side of the evaporator 8). The circuit 15 (corresponding to the judgment means and the control means in the present invention) is provided.

Further, the infrared sensors 16 and 17 provided on the instrument panel are provided so as to be able to detect the presence or absence of the occupant A in the driver's seat and the occupant B in the passenger's seat. 15 is given.

The control circuit 15 includes a microcomputer, and controls the operation of the blower 7 and the amount of air blow, the operation control of a compressor (not shown) in the refrigerating cycle system including the evaporator 8, Open / close control of the air mix damper 10, the vent outlet damper 11, and a damper (not shown), the servo motors 6a to 6d
The control of the operation of the louvers 5a to 5d and the like is performed. In this case, the control circuit 15 performs control for countermeasures against an unusual odor as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 2 in addition to the normal air-conditioning operation control based on a command from the control panel 18. I do.

That is, FIG. 2 shows the control contents of only the part related to the gist of the present invention. The control circuit 15 executes a predetermined initialization step S1 after turning on the power, and then inputs a cooling operation start command. Is determined (step S
2) In a state where the cooling operation start command is stopped, a loop including a damper control step S3 is formed. In this damper control step S3, each vent port is operated by operating the vent port vent damper 11. 4a
4d (that is, the bend outlet) is closed.

When a cooling operation start command is input,
The control circuit 15 detects the temperature T detected by the first sensor unit 12.
1 and the detected humidity W1, the detected temperature T2 and the detected humidity W2 by the second sensor unit 13, the detected temperature T3 by the temperature sensor 14, and the blower 7 set by the control panel 18.
(Step S4), and determines whether or not the evaporator 8 is operating (actually, whether or not the compressor in the refrigeration cycle system including the evaporator 8 is operating) based on its own control output. (Step S
5).

The control circuit 15 executes an operating moisture content calculation routine S6 when the evaporator 8 is operating, and executes a stop moisture content calculation routine S7 when the evaporator 8 is stopped.

In these calculation routines S6 and S7, the water content on the surface of the evaporator 8 is determined by the data read in step S4 (the temperature T1 and the humidity W1 of the air upstream of the evaporator 8 and the temperature T2 of the air downstream of the evaporator 8).
And the humidity W2, the temperature T3 of the evaporator 8, the blower 7
Is calculated based on the air flow V).

That is, the absolute humidity x1 (Kg / Kg ') of the upstream air of the evaporator 8 and the absolute humidity x of the downstream air
2 (Kg / Kg ') can be obtained by calculation using the temperature T1, humidity W1 and temperatures T2, W2 as parameters, respectively.
The moisture content on the surface of the evaporator 8 can be calculated based on 1 and x2. Specifically, the water content D1 when the evaporator 8 is operating can be calculated by the following equation, and the water content D2 when the evaporator 8 is stopped can be calculated by the following equation. However, in the following equation, DA is a specific volume (c
m ³ / μg), and Se is the effective surface area (cm ² ) of the evaporator 8.

D1 = {(x1−x2) × V} / (DA × Se) D2 = {(x2−x1) × V} / (DA × Se) In the operation-time moisture content calculation routine S6, By calculating the water content D1 on the surface of the evaporator 8 by the calculation based on the formula, and sequentially accumulating the result of multiplying the water content D1 by the time during which the temperature T3 is equal to or lower than the dew point temperature, the evaporator 8 is operated. Integrated moisture content during operation SD1
Is calculated.

In addition, the routine for calculating the water content at the time of stop S7.
Then, the water content D2 on the surface of the evaporator 8 is calculated by the calculation based on the formula, and the integrated water content SD2 when the operation of the evaporator 8 is stopped is calculated based on the following formula.

SD2 = L · SD1−D2 · t where L · SD1 is the final value of the integrated water content SD1 during operation of the evaporator 8, and t is the elapsed time immediately after the operation of the evaporator 8 (compressor) is stopped. (Sampling time).

That is, since the initial value of the integrated moisture amount SD2 when the operation of the evaporator 8 is stopped is the final value of the integrated moisture amount SD1 during the operation of the evaporator 8, the evaporation water amount is subtracted from this final value. Become. Here, according to the experiment of the inventor of the present application, the end timing of the generation of the offensive odor after the operation of the evaporator 8 is stopped is not the timing when the temperature of the evaporator 8 exceeds the dew point temperature, but is later than the timing. Is known. As can be seen from FIG. 3 showing a change state of the integrated moisture amount on the surface of the evaporator 8, the moisture (grid-shaded portion) accumulated when the evaporator 8 is operated (when the compressor is turned on) is reduced to the dew point temperature. It is considered that all evaporation cannot be performed until the temperature rises (point A), and the first evaporation occurs at the end timing of the generation of the abnormal odor (point B) after the operation of the evaporator 8 is stopped. As described above, the integrated moisture amount SD2 at the end of the off-flavor generation after the operation of the evaporator 8 is stopped is a negative value because the dew point temperature is used as a reference in the above calculation.

Here, the air conditioning unit 1 according to the present embodiment is used.
It is known that the water content on the surface of the evaporator 8 contributes to the generation of the off-flavor. The amount of water on the surface of the evaporator 8 during the air-conditioning operation gradually increases with time after the operation of the evaporator 8 is started, and gradually decreases with time after the operation is stopped.
The relationship between the integrated moisture content on the surface of the evaporator 8 (heat exchanger) and the off-flavor generation region was shown by an experiment (the negative integrated moisture content indicates the moisture content evaporated during the integration period). ). In this experiment, the accumulated water content at the time when the odor started to be generated after the operation of the evaporator 8 was started and after the operation was stopped was plotted under a plurality of environmental conditions. FIG. It can be seen that the off-flavor generation area differs from the stop state.

As is apparent from FIG. 4, in the operation state of the evaporator 8, when the integrated moisture amount SD1 in that state satisfies the following equation, the off-odor generation condition is satisfied. In the operation stop state, it can be seen that the off-odor generation condition is satisfied when the integrated moisture amount SD2 in that state has the relationship of the following equation.

0 <SD1 <30 μg / cm ² -20 μg / cm ² <SD2

Thus, the operating moisture content calculation routine S6
, The integrated moisture amount SD1 during operation of the evaporator 8
Is calculated, it is determined whether or not the integrated moisture amount SD1 satisfies the abnormal odor generation condition of the above equation (step S8). After calculating the integrated moisture amount SD2 when the operation of the evaporator 8 is stopped by the stop-time moisture amount calculation routine S7, it is determined whether or not the integrated moisture amount SD2 satisfies the abnormal odor generation condition of the above equation (step). S
9).

In the state where "YES" is determined in steps S8 and S9, that is, when the integrated moisture amount on the surface of the evaporator 8 satisfies the predetermined off-odor generation condition, each of the outlets 4a through 4b is controlled by the vent outlet damper 11. 4d is released, and the detection signals from the infrared sensors 16 and 17 are read (steps S10 and S11). Based on the read result, the blowing direction control step S12 is executed, and the process returns to step S2.

In the blowing direction control step S12, when the occupant A is detected, the direction of the cooling air blowing from the center outlet 4a and the light outlet 4c avoids the occupant A's face to the left or right. Direction (solid arrow Ea in FIG. 1)
(See Ec), the louvers 5a and 5c are
In the state where the occupant B is detected, the direction in which the cooling air blows out from the center outlet 4b and the left outlet 4d is such that the face of the occupant B is avoided to the right or left (solid arrow E in FIG. 1).
(see b, Ed)). As a result, the wind passing through the evaporator 8 in a state where the off-flavor generation condition is satisfied is not directly blown out to the face of the occupant A or B (particularly, near the nose).

"NO" in steps S8 and S9.
Is determined, that is, when the integrated moisture amount on the surface of the evaporator 8 does not satisfy the predetermined off-flavor generation condition, the vent outlet damper 11 controls the respective outlets 4a to 4-4.
Step S13 to release d, blowout direction control step S
14 are sequentially executed, and the process returns to step S2. In this blowout direction control step S14, the louver 5a is set so that the blowout direction of the wind from the center blowout port 4a and the light blowout port 4c is in the direction of the face of the occupant A (see the two-dot chain arrows Fa and Fc in FIG. 1). , The louver 5b so that the direction of the wind blown from the center outlet 4b and the left outlet 4d is in the direction of the face of the occupant B (see the two-dot chain arrows Fb and Fd in FIG. 1). 5d is rotated. Therefore, in a state where there is no fear that an odor is generated from the evaporator 8, the cooling air is blown toward the faces of the occupants A and B.

In short, in the above-described embodiment, the integrated moisture content on the surface of the evaporator 8 is calculated by calculation, and the evaporator 8 generates an unusual odor on the basis of the comparison between the calculated moisture content and the experimentally determined odor generating region. If it is determined whether or not the condition is satisfied, and if it is determined that the off-flavor generation condition is satisfied, that is, if the cooling air from each of the outlets 4a to 4d corresponding to the vent outlet contains an off-odor, Since the direction is changed so as to avoid the occupant's face, there is no possibility that the occupant will feel unpleasant due to an unusual odor. In this case, the cooling air is blown out from each of the air outlets 4a to 4d constituting the vent air outlet suitable for efficiently lowering the temperature in the passenger compartment.
There is no fear that the cooling speed in the vehicle interior is reduced unlike the conventional configuration. Further, in a state where there is no risk of generating an offensive odor from the evaporator 8, the control is performed such that the blowing direction of the cooling air from each of the outlets 4a to 4d is directed to the face of the occupant.
The occupants A and B can be positively given a feeling of cool air, and, of course, can quickly cool the passenger compartment.

In the above embodiment, the cooling air blowing direction from each of the air outlets 4a to 4d is controlled to be changed to the left or right depending on the presence or absence of the abnormal odor generation condition in the evaporator 8 in the cooling operation state. FIG. 5 showing a second embodiment of the present invention.
As described above, the configuration may be such that the blowing direction of the cooling air from each of the outlets 4a to 4d is changed up and down in accordance with the presence / absence of an unusual odor generation condition in the evaporator 8 in the cooling operation state.

More specifically, in FIG. 5, the louvers 5a to 5d are vertically rotated by servo motors 6a to 6d (see FIG. 1).
(See FIG. 1), when the off-flavor generation condition is satisfied, the cooling air blows out from each of the outlets 4a to 4d in a direction avoiding the occupant A or B face downward (solid arrow E).
The louvers 5a to 5d are rotated so that the odor generating condition is not satisfied in the evaporator 8, and the direction of the wind blown out from the outlets 4a to 4d is changed to the face direction of the occupant A or B. (See the two-dot chain line arrow F.)

The present embodiment having such a structure also has the same effect as that of the first embodiment. In particular, according to the present embodiment, the state in which the condition for generating an odor in the evaporator 8 is satisfied. In this case, since the cooling air is blown out toward the body part of the occupant, there is an advantage that the occupant can be provided with an immediate cooling sensation while preventing the unpleasant odor from being discomfort.

In each of the embodiments described above, the infrared sensors 16 and 17 are used to detect the presence or absence of an occupant. However, a so-called seating sensor having a pressure sensor set on a seat may be used. Alternatively, a configuration utilizing a seat belt attachment / detachment signal may be employed. further,
In each of the above-described embodiments, in the state where the off-flavor generation condition in the evaporator 8 is not satisfied, the direction in which the wind is blown out from the outlets 4a to 4d is directed to the face of the occupant A. It is also possible to adopt a configuration that can be changed and set according to the occupant's preference.

[0035]

According to the present invention, as is apparent from the above description, when the cooling heat exchanger in the air duct satisfies the predetermined off-odor generation condition in the cooling operation state, the air duct is connected to the air duct. Since the direction of cooling air blowing from the provided vent outlet is automatically changed so as to be in the direction avoiding the face of the occupant in the vehicle interior,
At the beginning of the cooling operation, it is possible to reliably prevent the air-conditioning wind containing an unpleasant odor from being blown out toward the occupant's face, and to have the beneficial effect that the cooling effect in the passenger compartment can be exhibited early. It is.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention in substance.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing control contents of a control circuit.

FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram showing a change state of a water content on an evaporator surface.

FIG. 4 is a characteristic diagram for explaining an operation.

FIG. 5 is a schematic side view of a main part showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

In the drawing, 1 is an air conditioning unit, 2 is a duct case, 3 is an inlet, 4a and 4b are center outlets (vent outlets), 4
c is a right outlet (vent outlet), 4d is a left outlet (vent outlet), 5a to 5d are louvers (wind direction changing means), 6a to 6d are servomotors (driving means), 7 is a blower, 8 is Evaporator (heat exchanger), 12 is a first sensor unit, 13 is a second sensor unit, 14 is a temperature sensor, 1
Reference numeral 5 denotes a control circuit (determination means, control means).

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-61-54316 (JP, A) JP-A-61-1526 (JP, A) JP-A-58-97520 (JP, A) 210 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60H 1/34

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A vehicle air conditioner comprising a cooling heat exchanger disposed in an air duct and configured to blow cooling air into a vehicle compartment from a vent outlet provided at a most downstream side of the air duct. A wind direction changing unit configured to change a blowing direction of the cooling air from the vent outlet, a driving unit for operating the wind direction changing unit, and the heat exchanger satisfies a predetermined off-odor generating condition. Determination means for determining whether or not the odor generating condition is satisfied by the determination means during the cooling operation state, and operating the wind direction changing means through the driving means to thereby operate the vent outlet. Control means for changing the direction in which cooling air is blown out of the vehicle so as to avoid the occupant's face in the passenger compartment.