JPH03157221A - Vehicle-inside humidifying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To always maintain the temperature of humidifying air at a desired temperature by calculating the difference between the temperature at the discharge port of a duct and the vehicle-inside temperature, and by correcting the supply quantity of water drops in accordance with the humidifying quantity in the inside of the duct on the downstream side of a heater, so that the above difference can be brought to zero. CONSTITUTION:The air in the inside of a vehicle is taken in through a duct 1, and humidified air is supplied to the neighborhood of the faces of passengers, and also a heater 2 is arranged in the inside of the duct 1. On the other hand, humidifying quantity is determined by a means 3 on the basis of at least vehicle-inside temperature and vehicle-inside humidify. And water drops corresponding to the determined humidifying quantity are supplied by a means 4 to the inside of the duct 1 on the downstream side of the heater 2. Further, the vaporization latent heat of water drops is calculated, and the heater 2 is electrified by the means 4 to obtain the heating value corresponding to this. Then the difference between the temperature at the discharge port of the duct and the vehicle-inside temperature is calculated, and also the supply quantity of water drops is corrected by a means 6 to bring the difference to zero. Thus, humidified air of proper humidify is supplied at a desired temperature.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a vehicle interior humidifying device, and more particularly to a vehicle interior humidifying device that supplies humidified air at the same temperature as the vehicle interior.

[Prior Art] When in-vehicle heating is used in cold weather, the humidity may become extremely low, which is not favorable for the respiratory system of the occupants. Therefore,
It has been proposed to install a humidifier to keep the humidity inside the car at an appropriate level. For example, in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 6346217, the mist outlet of the humidifier is placed in the air conditioning duct, and the mist is transferred to warm air flowing through the duct. A humidifying device that vaporizes water has been proposed.

[Problem B to be solved by the invention] However, in the conventional humidifier described above, when the humidifier starts spraying, the heat of vaporization is taken away and the temperature of the air blown from the air conditioning duct decreases, causing discomfort to the occupants. In addition, in ultrasonic type humidifiers, which are often used as humidifiers, the amount of water droplets supplied changes due to aging of the vibrator, which also causes the above-mentioned fluctuation in the temperature of the blowing air. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve this problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an in-vehicle humidifier that can always maintain the temperature of humidified air at a desired temperature even when the humidifier operates and changes over time. shall be.

[Means for Solving the Problems] To explain the present invention in detail, an in-vehicle humidifying device includes a duct 1 that sucks in in-vehicle air and supplies humidified air to the vicinity of the face of an occupant, and a heater provided in the duct 1. 2, a humidification amount determining means 3 that determines the amount of humidification based on at least the inside temperature and humidity of the inside of the car, and a humidification means 4 that sends water droplets according to the determined amount of humidification into the duct 1 downstream of the heater 2; Calculate the latent heat of vaporization of water droplets and calculate the difference between the temperature of the heater 2, the temperature of the duct outlet 12, and the temperature of the inside of the vehicle, and reduce this difference to zero. A correction means 3 is provided for correcting the amount of water droplets supplied by the humidification means 4 so that the amount of water droplets supplied by the humidification means 4 is corrected.

In another configuration of the present invention, the in-vehicle humidifying device further includes means 35 for setting a target blowout temperature, and the heater energizing means 5 adjusts the intake air to the latent heat of vaporization of the water droplets and the target blowout temperature. The heater is configured to calculate the amount of heat required for heating and energize the heater in order to obtain the corresponding amount of heat, and the correction means 3 adjusts the temperature of the outlet 12 of the duct 1 and the target. It is configured to calculate the difference in blowout temperature and correct the amount of water droplets supplied by the humidifying means 4 so as to reduce this difference to zero.

[Operation] In the vehicle interior humidifying device configured as described above, the amount of humidification is determined based on at least the vehicle interior temperature and vehicle interior humidity, and water droplets in an amount that realizes the humidification amount are supplied into the duct 1. On the other hand, the air inside the duct 1 is preheated by the heater 2 installed on the upstream side, and the amount of heating corresponds to the latent heat of vaporization of the supplied water droplets, so that the water droplets transform into steam. Even if the amount of heat is taken away from the air inside the duct 1, the temperature will drop to approximately the same as the temperature inside the car before heating.

Here, for example, if the humidifier included in the humidifying means 4 deteriorates over time, water droplets corresponding to the determined humidification amount will not be supplied. In this case, a difference occurs between the duct outlet temperature and the vehicle interior temperature, but the correction means 3 corrects the amount of water droplets supplied by the humidification means 4, and the temperature difference is eliminated.

Further, by correcting the amount of water droplets supplied by the humidifying means 4 to eliminate the temperature difference, appropriate humidity is maintained regardless of changes over time.

According to another configuration of the present invention, the heater 2 is energized and the water droplet supply amount is corrected so as to achieve the target blowout temperature while maintaining a predetermined humidification amount with respect to the set target blowout temperature. This makes it possible to actively change the temperature inside the vehicle.

[First Embodiment] In FIG. 2, a duct 1 disposed at an appropriate position in a vehicle body has one end connected to an inlet port 1 for inlet air provided with a filter.
1, and the air outlet 12 at the other end extends near the waistline of the column cover SL of the steering handle S (Fig. 6) or the inner panel of the passenger door D (Fig. 7), and closes the passenger's face. It opens towards the surrounding area.

A proa fan 13 is installed in the duct 1 near the intake port 11.
is provided, and a heater 2 is provided downstream thereof. The duct 1 bulges downward immediately after the heater 2 and is connected to the humidifier 4.
The duct flow path falls into the humidifier 4 by the partition plate 15, and then rises in a U-shape.

A water droplet scattering prevention plate 16 is provided in a protruding manner within this rising flow path.

The humidifier 4 is provided with a water storage tank 42, and an ultrasonic vibrator 41 is provided on the bottom wall thereof with a vibrating part exposed. Water is supplied to the water tank 42 from a detachable water tank 43. Furthermore, temperature sensors 31 and 32 are provided in the duct near the inlet 11 and outlet 12.

A control circuit 3 including a computer whose operation will be described later is provided, and the outputs of the temperature sensors 31, 32, the outside air temperature sensor 33, and the inside temperature/humidity sensor 34 are input to this control circuit 3. The control circuit 3 operates the heater 2 to generate heat via the heater energization circuit 5, and operates the humidifier 4 via the humidifier drive circuit 6.

A circuit example of the heater energizing circuit 5 is shown in FIG. 3, and the heater 2 is connected to the vehicle battery 7 via a power transistor 51. The degree of conductivity of the power transistor 51 is
By changing the output voltage applied to the base resistor 52 from the D/A converter (not shown) of the control circuit 3, it is linearly changed, and the heater current is changed to adjust the amount of heat generated.

The humidifier drive circuit 6 has an oscillation circuit that drives the ultrasonic transducer 41 of the humidifier 4, as shown in FIG.
7.68, a known LC oscillation circuit consisting of a transistor 69, whose oscillation voltage is determined by the base resistance 6 of the transistor 61.
By changing the output voltage to 2, the voltage can be changed linearly.

Therefore, when the oscillation voltage applied to the vibrator 41 is changed, the amount of water droplets supplied from the humidifier 4 to the airflow in the duct increases or decreases accordingly.

The operation of the control circuit will be explained below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

In step 101, each data of the temperature and humidity inside the vehicle and the outside temperature is inputted from the sensors 33 and 34, and based on these data, the amount of humidification is determined in order to optimize the humidity around the face of the passenger (step 102).

Then, a drive voltage is output to the humidifier drive circuit B6 in order to supply the amount of water droplets that realizes this humidification amount (step 103).
.

Next, in step 104, the latent heat of vaporization of the amount of water droplets is calculated, and the power to be supplied to realize the heater heat generation amount corresponding to this latent heat of vaporization is calculated, and a control signal is output to the heater energization circuit 6 (step 105). .106).

Here, since the oscillator 41 of the humidifier 4 changes over time, an appropriate amount of water droplets may not be supplied depending on the drive voltage output in step 103. Therefore, in step 107, the sensor 31, 32 The air temperatures at the inlet and outlet are respectively input, and a correction value for the humidifier drive voltage is calculated and output in order to correct the amount of water droplets so as to make this temperature difference zero (steps 108 and 109).
.

As explained above, the air inside the duct is supplied with water droplets as it flows through the humidifier, and its temperature drops due to the latent heat of vaporization.The air inside the duct is heated in advance by the heater to offset this temperature drop. The temperature of the humidified air supplied to the occupants from the air outlet matches the temperature inside the vehicle and does not cause discomfort.

In the above embodiment, if humidity fluctuations due to changes in the humidifier over time are acceptable, the amount of heat generated by the heater may be corrected and controlled so as to reduce the difference between the inlet temperature and the outlet temperature of the duct to zero.

Further, if the temperature difference in the humidified air due to the above-mentioned change over time is acceptable, correction control of the humidifier or heater is not necessary.

The heater does not need to be of an electric heating type, and since the temperature at the intake port is the temperature inside the vehicle, the temperature sensor 31 can be replaced by another temperature sensor inside the vehicle.

The reason why outside temperature is taken into consideration when determining the amount of humidification is to prevent fogging of the window glass. If fogging can be effectively prevented by the installation position of the air outlet, it is not necessary to measure outside temperature. .

[Second Embodiment] In the first embodiment described above, the humidifier was operated so as not to change the temperature inside the car, but the air conditioning may be performed by actively changing the temperature inside the car using humidified air. The device configuration and control flowchart in this case are shown in FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, respectively. Hereinafter, differences from the first embodiment will be mainly explained.

In FIG. 8, a set temperature signal is inputted to the control circuit 3 from the air conditioner 35, and the target blowing temperature is determined from this signal.

In FIG. 9, the characteristic feature of the control procedure of the control circuit 3 is that in step 104, the air conditioning set temperature is taken in, and in step 105, the latent heat of vaporization of the humidifying water droplet amount determined in the preceding step 102 and the humidifying air Step 106) Heater energization circuit 5 calculates the amount of heat required to raise the temperature to the target blowing temperature corresponding to the air conditioner setting temperature, and calculates the power to be supplied to realize the amount of heater heat corresponding to these amounts of heat.Step 106) Heater energization circuit 5 (Step 107) In Step 108, the actual air outlet temperature data is taken in from the temperature sensor 32, and a correction value for the humidifier drive voltage is calculated to correct the water droplet landscape so that this data matches the target air outlet temperature. and output it (steps 109 and 110).

In this way, according to this embodiment, the temperature inside the vehicle can be actively changed to a predetermined temperature instructed by the air conditioner 35, and the humidity of the conditioned air can be maintained at an appropriate level during this time.

Note that, as shown in FIG. 10, the duct outlet 17 may be configured to extend from the headrest of the seat toward the vicinity of the occupant.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the in-vehicle humidifying device of the present invention has the following features:
Humidified air with appropriate humidity can be supplied to the occupants.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a diagram corresponding to claims, Figs. 2 to 7 show a first embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is an overall configuration diagram of the device, and Fig. 3 is a diagram corresponding to claims.
Figure 4 is a circuit diagram of the heater energization circuit, Figure 4 is a circuit diagram of the humidifier drive circuit, Figure 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control circuit, Figures 6 and 7 are front views showing the installation position of the duct outlet. The figure and the perspective view, FIGS. 8 and 9 are the second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is an overall configuration diagram of the apparatus, FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control circuit, and FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing another example of the installation of the duct outlet. 1...Duct 11...Intake port 13...Proa fan 2...Heater 3...Control circuit (humidification amount determining means, correction means) 31.
32.33...Temperature sensor 34...Temperature/humidity sensor 35...Air conditioner (outlet temperature setting means)
4... Humidifier (humidifying means) 41... Ultrasonic vibrator 5... Heater energizing circuit (heater energizing means) 6... Humidifier drive circuit Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4 Fig. 6 Figure 7 9

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A duct that sucks air inside the vehicle and supplies humidified air to the vicinity of the occupant's face, a heater provided in the duct, and a humidification amount determining means that determines the amount of humidification based on at least the temperature and humidity inside the vehicle; a humidifying means for feeding water droplets into a duct downstream of the heater in accordance with the amount of humidification performed; a heater energizing means for calculating the latent heat of vaporization of the water droplets and energizing the heater to obtain a corresponding amount of heat; A vehicle interior humidifying device comprising: a correction means for calculating a difference between the temperature of the duct outlet and the temperature inside the vehicle, and correcting the amount of water droplets supplied by the humidification means so as to reduce this difference to zero. (2) The vehicle interior humidifying device according to claim 1 further comprises means for setting a target blowout temperature, and the heater energization means is necessary for heating the intake air to the latent heat of vaporization of the water droplets and the target blowout temperature. The correcting means calculates the difference between the temperature at the outlet of the duct and the target outlet temperature, and the correcting means calculates the difference between the temperature at the outlet of the duct and the target outlet temperature. 2. The in-vehicle humidifier according to claim 1, wherein the in-vehicle humidifier is configured to correct the amount of water droplets supplied by said humidifying means so as to reduce this difference to zero.