JPH03112712A - Air conditioner for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To minimize a crew's uncomfortable feeling by interrupting the output of a control signal to a cooling cycle, and restricting and controlling each function of other air conditioning facilitates, upon detection of non-existence of the cooling cycle or failure of the cooling cycle. CONSTITUTION:In driving a vehicle, a microcomputer 31 makes judgement as to whether the concerned air conditioner has a cooling cycle, depending upon the connection or disconnection of a duct sensor 28 for detecting the temperature of an evaporator 8 to and from the required input port of the computer 31. Upon finding that the cooling cycle is not provided or out of order even when provided, the microcomputer 31 interrupts the output of a control signal to the cooling cycle, and makes invalid the air conditioner switch 33 even if operated. Also, when an intake mode is under automatic control, the mode is fixed to a fresh air introduction mode, and the rotational speed of a fan 7 is restricted even when quick cooling is required.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a vehicle air conditioner that can perform appropriate air conditioning control when a cooling cycle operation is requested, regardless of the presence or absence of a cooling cycle or a malfunction.

(Prior art) The rotation control of the blower, the drive control of the compressor that forms part of the cooling cycle, the temperature control, etc. can be controlled manually by the passenger, or the heat load in the passenger compartment can be controlled from the temperature inside and outside the passenger compartment, the set temperature, etc. The basic concept of an automatic air conditioner is to calculate control parameters appropriate for the air conditioner and automatically perform operations based on these control parameters. In such an automatic air conditioner, for example, when cooling is required, the intake mode is set to internal air intake, the blower is rotated with a predetermined characteristic to drive the compressor, and the air conditioner is not air-conditioned to the occupants.
The operating status was notified by the lighting of the C lamp. For example, as a publicly known publication, Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-587
No. 23 can be mentioned.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in conventional air conditioners, the above-mentioned control is always performed when cooling is requested, so for example, if a vehicle is equipped with an air conditioner without a cooling cycle, Even if the cooling cycle fails, the amount of air blown increases even though cooling is not possible, resulting in inconveniences such as a large amount of warm air being supplied. In this case, not only one air conditioning unit cannot handle the presence or absence of a cooling cycle, but also the air conditioning control performance deteriorates.

Therefore, in this invention, the same air conditioning unit can be used even when there is no cooling cycle, and the vehicle air conditioner is designed to minimize the discomfort of occupants in the event of a failure and improve air conditioning control performance. The challenge is to provide equipment.

(Means for Solving the Problems) Therefore, the gist of the present invention is to automatically control the cooling cycle and other operations manually by the operation of the occupant or automatically based on control parameters appropriate to the heat load in the vehicle interior. In a vehicle air conditioner that controls each function of an air conditioner, there is provided a signal detection means for detecting a signal regarding the presence or absence of the cooling cycle or the operating state thereof, and a signal detection means for detecting a signal regarding the presence or absence of the cooling cycle or the operating state based on the output of the signal detection means. determining means for determining suitability of the cooling cycle; and stopping output of a control signal to the cooling cycle when the determining means determines that the cooling cycle does not exist or that the operating state of the cooling cycle is abnormal. At the same time, the present invention is provided with regulation control means for regulating each function of the air conditioning equipment other than the cooling cycle that is required when the operation of the cooling cycle is requested.

(Function) Therefore, it is determined whether to perform normal cooling cycle control or regulated control after knowing the presence or absence of a cooling cycle and the suitability of its operating state. In addition to being able to handle removal, it is also possible to prevent inappropriate ``a adjustment'' from being performed in the event of a failure in the cooling cycle, thereby achieving the above object.

(Example) Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, the vehicle air conditioner has an air conditioning duct 1
An inside/outside air switching device 2 is provided on the most upstream side of the inside/outside air switching device 2, and an inside/outside air switching door 5 is disposed at the part where the inside air population 3 and outside air population 4 are separated. By operating the actuator 6, the air introduced into the air conditioning duct 1 can be selected between inside air and outside air, and the suction mode can be changed.

The blower 7 sucks air into the air conditioning duct 1 and blows it downstream, and an evaporator 8 and a heater core 9 are provided behind the blower 7.

The evaporator 8 is connected to the piping together with a compressor lO having a variable capacity mechanism 24, a condenser 11, a liquid tank 12, and an expansion valve 13 to form a cooling cycle. The electromagnetic clutch 15 is connected via the electromagnetic clutch 15, and is controlled to be turned on and off by turning on and off the electromagnetic clutch 15. Further, the heater core 9 is configured to circulate engine cooling water and heat the air. This heater core 9
An air mix door 16 is provided in front of the air mix door 16, and the opening degree θX of this air mix door 16 is controlled by the actuator 1.
7, the amount of air passing through the heater core 9 and air bypassing the heater core 9 can be changed,
As a result, the temperature of the blown air is controlled.

The downstream side of the air conditioning duct)l is divided into a defrost outlet 18, a vent outlet 19, and a heat outlet 20, which open into the vehicle interior, and mode doors 22a, 22 are installed in these divided parts.
b are provided, and by operating these mode doors 22a, 22b with an actuator 23, a desired blowing mode can be obtained.

The actuators 6, 17, 23, the motor of the blower 7, the variable capacity mechanism 24 of the compressor 10, and the electromagnetic clutch 15 are connected to drive circuits 43a to 43, respectively.
It is controlled based on an output signal from the microcomputer 31 via f.

The microcomputer 3 is a well-known device having a central processing unit (not shown), a read-only memory ROM, a random access memory RAM, an input/output capacitor) 110, etc., and the microcomputer 31 detects the temperature inside the vehicle. Output signal T from the vehicle interior temperature sensor 25
r, an output signal Ta from the outside air temperature sensor 26 that detects the outside air temperature, an output signal QS from the solar radiation sensor 27 that detects the amount of solar radiation, the temperature of the evaporator 8 or the evaporator provided on the downstream side of the evaporator 8 or the evaporator 8; Duct sensor 2 that detects the temperature of the air that has passed through 8
The output signal Tm from 8 is selected via the multiplexer 29, converted into a digital signal by the A/D converter 30, and inputted.

Furthermore, an output signal from the operation panel 32 is input to the microcomputer 31 . This operation panel 32 includes an A/C switch 3 that commands normal control of the compressor 10.
3 and an EC0N switch 34 that commands economical compressor control, and when either of these switches is pressed, the automatic control mode is entered.The operation panel 32 also stops the operation of the air conditioning equipment. OFF switch 3
5. DEF switch 36 that sets the blowing mode to defrost mode, temperature setting device 37 that sets the set temperature Tset in the vehicle interior, blowing capacity setting device 38 that sets the blowing capacity by operating the FAN switch 38a, MODE switch 39a.
It is equipped with a blow-off mode setting device 39 that sets a blow-off mode other than the defrost mode by operation, and a suction mode setting device 40 that sets a suction mode.
1 through the display circuit 41, the A/C switch 33, E
The lighting of the C0N switch 34 and the like is controlled, and the set temperature, air blowing capacity, blowing mode, and suction mode are displayed on the display section 42.

In FIG. 2, an example of a control routine when the microcomputer 31 requests activation of the cooling cycle of the air conditioner is shown as a flowchart. Determine whether the air conditioner is equipped with a cooling cycle. This determination is made, for example, by determining whether or not the duct sensor 28 is connected to a predetermined input port of the computer 31, or by providing a special coupler that determines the presence or absence of the duct sensor 28. If it is determined that this is the case, the process proceeds to step 54, where the compressor 10 is operated, the A/C switch 33 is turned on, the intake mode (INTAKE) is set to introduce internal air, and the rotational speed of the blower 7 is adjusted according to the heat load in the passenger compartment. Normal cooling control is performed. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is no cooling cycle, the control output to the cooling cycle is stopped because there is no cooling function (the air conditioner's OFF mode), and even if the A/C switch 33 is operated Ignoring this, the A/C switch 33 itself is turned off. In addition, if the intake mode is in the auto control mode, the outside air intake (FR
ESH), and the rotational speed of the blower 7 is regulated so that even if rapid cooling is required, the amount of air is regulated to prevent a large amount of hot air from being blown onto the occupants. Note that other controls such as the opening degree of the air mix door 16 are performed in the same manner regardless of the presence or absence of the cooling cycle.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment when the cooling cycle is requested to operate. In this program, execution starts from step 60, and in the next step 62, the duct sensor 28
It is determined whether or not there is a failure based on the output Tm from. This determination is made based on whether or not the output Tm of the duct sensor 28 is being input, or whether or not Ttn is being input, but whether or not the value corresponds to cooling the evaporator. If it is determined that there is no malfunction, normal cooling control similar to that described above is performed (step 64), and if it is determined that there is a malfunction, the process proceeds to step 66, and the intake mode (INTAKE) is set to internal air introduction (REC). Tm depending on whether there is outside air intake (Fl? ESH)
is substituted with a function of other parameters. That is, if the intake mode is REC, the vehicle interior temperature Tr is set to Tm' (step 68), and if the intake mode is FRESH, the value obtained by adding a predetermined temperature α (for example, 3°C) to the outside temperature Ta is set to Tm. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, this T1 is delayed by a predetermined rate (for example, 1 deg/5 seconds) and then used as Tm for air conditioning control (Step 7).
2). Then, in the next step 74, similarly to step 56 in FIG. 2, the output of the control signal to the cooling cycle is stopped, and the functions of the predetermined air conditioning equipment are regulated,
We are ready to respond in the event of a cooling cycle failure.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a control routine that uses the present invention to control the compressor 10. The microcomputer 31 starts executing this program at step 80, and determines whether the blower 7 is in operation at step 82.

If the blower 7 is not operating, cooling control cannot be performed, so the compressor 10 is turned off (step 84); if the blower is operating, step 86 determines whether there is a failure based on the output Tm from the duct sensor 28. ,
If it is determined that there is a failure, the process proceeds to step 84 and the compressor IO is turned off because accurate temperature control cannot be performed as in the previous embodiment. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is no failure, it is determined in the next step 88 whether or not the outside temperature sensor 26 is out of order. Determine whether or not. In this step, if the outside temperature is too low, operation of the cooling cycle is not necessary for cooling or dehumidification, so the process proceeds to step 84 and the compressor 10 is turned off.

On the other hand, if Ta is equal to or higher than the predetermined temperature, the process proceeds to step 92 and checks whether the EC0N switch 34 is ON or not, as in the case where the outside temperature sensor 26 is out of order.
In step 94, it is determined whether the A/C switch 33 is ON. Here, if the A/C switch 33 is ON, the process advances to step 96 where the compressor 10 is continuously operated and the EC0N switch 34 is also turned ON.
If 3 is not ON, turn off the compressor 10 (
Step 84). Further, if the EC0N switch 34 is ON, the process advances to step 98 and the set temperature T is set.

Determine whether or not the temperature corresponds to MAX C00L, and if it is not set to MAX C00L, step 1
At step 00, it is determined whether the outside air temperature Ta is higher or lower than a predetermined temperature, and at step 102, it is determined whether the opening degree θX of the air mix door 16 is larger or smaller than the predetermined opening degree. Here, if Ta is below the predetermined temperature and θX is close to the full hot side, there is a request for heating control, so the compressor 10 is turned off (Step 84), Ta
If θX is on the full cool side even if the temperature is below a predetermined temperature, the process proceeds to step 104 and variable thermo control is performed to intermittently operate the compressor 10. Further, if the set temperature is MAX C00L in step 98, step 1
After setting the opening degree θX of the air mix door to the A side (full cool side) in step 06, proceed to step 96 and set the compressor 1.
0 is continuously operated, and if Ta is higher than the predetermined temperature in step 100, θX is set to the B side (closer to full hot).
In step 10), it is determined whether or not there is a failure in the vehicle interior temperature sensor 25. In step 110), if there is no failure, variable thermo control is performed, but if it is failure, continuous operation is performed since this control is difficult.

Next, FIG. 6 shows an example of a control routine for handling the operation of the compressor switch (A/C switch, EC0N switch). In this routine, step 12
Execution of the program is started from 0 and 1, and it is determined in step 122 whether or not the compressor switch has been pressed. If the compressor switch has not been pressed, no processing is necessary; however, if it has been pressed, the process proceeds to step 12 after passing through the self-diagnosis steps of steps 124 and 126, and in this step 128, the presence or absence of a failure is determined based on Tm. judge. If it is determined that there is a failure here, the operation of the compressor switch is ignored so that no control is performed by that operation, and if it is determined that there is no failure, the process proceeds to step 130. This step 130
In this case, it is determined whether or not the FAN switch 38a is OFF, and if it is OFF, there is no point in operating the compressor O, so the operation of the compressor switch is ignored, and the compressor is turned ON only when the FAN switch 38a is ON. The compressor 10 can be controlled by operating the switch (step 132).

In FIG. 7, display control of the operation panel 32 by the microcomputer 31 is shown, and after the program is executed from step 140, it is determined in step 142 whether or not the FAN switch 38a has been operated, and it is determined that the blower 7 is not operating. In this case, since the cooling cycle is stopped, the A/C switch 33 and the EC0N switch 34 are turned off in step 144. Even if the blower 7 is operating,
Based on the Tm in step 146 (if it is determined that there is a failure in the failure determination, the A/C and EC0N switches are turned off (step 144) to prevent erroneous indications to the occupants. If it is determined that there is no such mode, the process advances to step 148 and it is determined whether or not the automatic control mode is set.

If the automatic control mode is selected, it is determined in step 150 whether or not the compressor 10 is operating, and if the compressor 10 is stopped, the A/C, EC0N
Do not turn on the switch (step 144. If the L compressor 10 is operating, its operating state is MAX.
It is determined whether it is for realizing C00L (step 152). Even if the compressor is not controlled toward MAX C00L, sufficient cooling cannot be achieved if the cooling capacity is saved when the overall signal is above a predetermined value, so the same control as that for MAX C00L is performed, and the A/C switch is turned on and the EC0N switch is turned off (steps 154, 156). If the temperature is below a predetermined temperature, economical compressor control is performed, so the A/C,
Turn on both EC0N switches (step 158)
.

On the other hand, if it is not the automatic control mode, depending on the turning on of various switches related to the control of the compressor 10 (
Step 160) The following display is made. first,
If the DEFEC switch is turned on, step 1
At step 62, it is determined whether the outside temperature Ta is above a predetermined value, and if Ta is above the predetermined value, it is necessary to operate the compressor 10 to prevent the window glass from fogging.
The C switch 33 is turned on (step 164).

On the other hand, if Ta is less than the predetermined value, compressor control is not necessary due to demisting, so the A/C and EC0N switches 33 and 34 are turned off (step 166).

Next, if the MODE switch 39a, A/C, EC0N switch 33.34 is turned on, step 168
It is determined whether or not the OFF switch 35 has been pressed, and if the OFF switch 35 has been operated, the A/C, E
Turn off the C0N switches 33 and 34. If the OFF switch 35 is not turned on, it is determined in step 170 whether or not the EC0N switch 34 is turned on, and if the EC0N switch 34 is turned on, the A/C and EC0N switches 33 and 34 are turned on in step 172). If not, the A/C switch 33 is turned on and the EC0N switch 34 is turned off (step 174).

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, when the cooling cycle does not exist or when the cooling cycle malfunctions, the output of the control signal to the cooling cycle is stopped, and the output of the control signal to the cooling cycle is stopped. Since each function is regulated and controlled, 1
In addition to being able to handle the addition and removal of cooling cycles with the same air conditioning unit, even in the event of a failure of the cooling cycle, control can be performed according to the failure status, and control performance that can minimize passenger discomfort. Accordingly, it is possible to provide a vehicle air conditioner with improved performance.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of the control operation of the air conditioner when a cooling cycle operation is requested by the microcomputer used in the same. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing another example of the control operation of the air conditioner when the cooling cycle needs to be activated by the microcomputer, and FIG. 4 is a characteristic diagram showing the characteristics of the signal Tm of the duct sensor which is substituted with another detection signal. , FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a control operation for compressor control by a microcomputer, FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a control routine related to handling of a compressor switch operation by a microcomputer, and FIG. 7 is a display of an operation panel by a microcomputer. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a control routine. 7...Blower, 8...Evaporator, 10...Compressor, 28...Duct sensor, 32...Operation panel, 33...A/C switch, 34...EC0
N switch. Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A vehicle air conditioner that controls each function of the cooling cycle and other air conditioning equipment manually by the operation of a passenger or automatically based on control parameters commensurate with the heat load in the vehicle interior, a signal detecting means for detecting a signal related to the presence or absence of the cooling cycle or an operating state; a determining means for determining the presence or absence of the cooling cycle or the suitability of the operating state based on the output of the signal detecting means; If it is determined that the cooling cycle does not exist or that the operating state of the cooling cycle is abnormal, the output of the control signal to the cooling cycle is stopped, and the cooling cycle other than the one required when the cooling cycle is requested to operate is stopped. An air conditioner for a vehicle, comprising: a regulation control means for regulating and controlling each function of the air conditioning equipment.