JPH04244410A - Air conditioner for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an air conditioner for a vehicle which can quickly frost and clear up according to the degree of frosting of the window glass without a special sensor or without giving crew members or passengers uncomfortable feeling by utilizing the operability of the heating coil of the rear window. CONSTITUTION:In an air conditioner for a vehicle in which a heating coil is arranged on the rear window glass, an air volume control means, which performs the first air volume control, which increases air blow volume according to the operation to turn on a defroster switch, and the second air volume control, which sets air blow volume higher than the air volume in the first air volume control mentioned above in the case where both of the above defroster switch and the operation switch for the above heating coil are turned on.

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 installed in a vehicle having a heating wire provided in the rear window glass.

0002

[Prior Art] Conventionally, when a defroster switch is turned on in order to defrost a windshield such as a front windshield in an air conditioner for a vehicle such as an automobile, the amount of air blown is increased to some extent compared to before the defroster switch is turned on. A system that controls the air volume is being considered. By controlling the amount of air blown when the defroster switch is turned on as described above, it becomes possible to defog the window glass more quickly.

0003

[Problem to be solved by the invention] However, if the window glass is persistently fogged, such as when the humidity inside the vehicle is particularly high, the fogging will not clear even if the air conditioning air volume is increased to a certain extent, and it will take time to remove it. There is a problem that it takes. For this reason, for example, the degree of fogging on the window glass can be predicted by measuring the humidity inside the vehicle with a humidity sensor, and if the degree of fogging is particularly severe, the air volume when the defroster switch is turned on can be increased, for example. It is conceivable to control the air volume to the maximum, but in this case, it is necessary to newly incorporate a special sensor (humidity sensor) into the conventional system, which poses a problem of high cost.

[0004]Also, when the defroster switch is turned on, it may be possible to control the air so that it always blows out the air at the maximum volume, but in this case, when the defroster switch is turned on,
When operated, the maximum volume of conditioned air is always blown out regardless of the degree of fogging on the window glass. Therefore, in defroster mode, the air blowing noise is always loud and a larger amount of air-conditioned air than necessary is blown out to the front side.
There was a problem in that it caused discomfort to the passengers.

By the way, in a vehicle equipped with a heat wire for defrosting the rear windshield, if the humidity condition inside the vehicle is bad and the window glass is heavily fogged, the air-conditioned air blowing mode is usually set to the defroster mode. At the same time, the heating wire is made conductive to defog the rear window glass. That is, when the defroster switch of the air conditioner and the heat wire operation switch are both turned on, it can be considered that the degree of fogging on the window glass is severe and it is difficult to remove the fogging.

[0006] This invention was made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and by utilizing the operating characteristics of the hot wire switch on the rear window glass, it can be operated without using a special sensor or causing discomfort to the occupants. An object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner for a vehicle that can quickly defog the window glass depending on the degree of fogging.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] Therefore, the present invention has the following features:
Turn on the defroster switch in a vehicle air conditioner installed in a vehicle with a hot wire installed in the rear window glass.
a first air volume control that increases the air volume according to the operation; and a second air volume that sets the air volume higher than the air volume in the first air volume control when both the defroster switch and the hot wire operation switch are turned on. The system is equipped with an air volume control means for controlling the air volume.

[0008]

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, since the air volume control means is provided, when only the defroster switch is turned on and the rear window glass heat ray switch is not turned on, that is, the degree of fogging of the window glass is not so severe. In this case, the first air volume control allows the air volume of the conditioned air to be increased to a certain extent to quickly defrost the window glass. In addition, when both the defroster switch and the heat wire switch are turned on, that is, when the degree of fogging on the window glass is severe and it is difficult to remove the fog, the second air volume control adjusts the air flow volume of the conditioned air to the first air volume. It is possible to set it higher than in the case of control to further promote defrosting of the window glass. That is, without using a special sensor, it is possible to quickly clear the fog according to the degree of fogging on the window glass. In this case, since the volume of air conditioned air from the defroster outlet is controlled according to the degree of fogging of the window glass, the air volume does not cause particular discomfort to the occupants, unlike when the air volume is always blown at the maximum volume.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an outline of the equipment configuration and duct arrangement of a vehicle air conditioner 1 disposed on the front side of a vehicle compartment of an automobile according to this embodiment. The air conditioner 1 includes, in order from the upstream side, a blower unit 2 that takes in air to be conditioned and sends it into the device, a cooling unit 3 that cools the conditioned air using an evaporator 16, and a heat source that uses cooling water for an engine (not shown). A heater unit 4 that warms the conditioned air by a heater core 17 is provided, and a chamber section 5 on the downstream side of the heater unit 4 or the cooling unit 3 is provided.
Air conditioning ducts 21, 22, and 23 are connected to vent, heat, and defroster outlets 24, 25, and 26, respectively, which open toward the front side of the vehicle interior.

The heater unit 4 includes a heater core 1.
An air mix door 18 is provided to control the temperature of the conditioned air by adjusting the amount of air passing through the air conditioning duct 7, and each of the air conditioning ducts 21, 22, and 23 has a vent, Mode doors 27, 28 and 29 for heat and defroster are respectively provided. The blower unit 2 includes an air intake box 11 that switches the air intake state between outside air introduction and inside air circulation by opening and closing an inside/outside air switching damper 12, and a blower fan 13 that sends the taken air to the downstream side. The blower motor 14 rotates the blower fan 13, and by adjusting the opening degree of the inside/outside air switching damper 12, outside air, inside air, or a mixture of both can be taken in. By controlling the number of air conditioners, the air volume of the air conditioner can be adjusted.

The air conditioner 1 is a so-called automatic air conditioner equipped with an auto control function and an auto mode function.
When auto operation is specified, for example, in the winter, when the air conditioner 1 is started to heat the interior of a car when it is completely cold, the above auto mode function sets the air conditioner air blowing mode to the defroster. After a certain amount of time has passed in this heat mode, the average temperature inside the vehicle reaches the set temperature, and a stable heating condition is achieved. , automatically switches to bi-level mode.

The above-mentioned defroster mode is a blowout mode in which air-conditioned air is blown from the defroster blow-off port 26 toward the front windshield (not shown) or further toward the door glass (not shown) to clear the fog. In addition to the initial mode, the mode can be manually designated by turning on the defroster switch 39 connected to the control unit 40 of the air conditioner, as shown in FIG. The control unit 40 is configured with, for example, a microcomputer as its main part, and controls the operation of the air conditioner 1 in response to input operations from an operation panel (not shown) disposed near the driver's seat in the vehicle interior. Although not specifically shown, the operation panel includes, in addition to the defroster switch 39, manual switches for various blowout modes, a temperature adjustment lever and an air volume adjustment lever for manual operation, and an automatic switch for automatic operation. It is equipped with a large number of operation switches and levers, such as a control switch and an auto mode switch.

In this embodiment, a hot wire 43 for defrosting the rear window glass (not shown) is provided, and a hot wire switch 44 for turning on/off the power supply to the hot wire 43 is connected to the control unit 40. connected (see Figure 2). Further, in this embodiment, the control unit 40 includes a first air volume control that increases the air flow rate in response to the ON operation of the defroster switch 39 compared to the state before the ON operation of the defroster switch 39;
An air volume control section 41 is provided which performs a second air volume control that sets the air volume to be higher than the air volume in the first air volume control when both the heat wire switch 44 and the hot wire switch 44 are turned on. Both the defroster switch 39 and the hot wire switch 44 are connected to this air volume control section 41 .

That is, in the first air volume control, the air intake mode is set to the outside air introduction mode by the switching operation of the inside/outside air switching damper 12, fresh outside air is taken in, and the evaporator 16 of the cooling unit 3 is cooled. The A/C switch 38 that controls the connection state between the compressor 37 (see FIG. 2) of the refrigeration cycle to be operated and the engine output shaft (not shown) is turned on, and the compressor 37 is put into an operable state. /C mode is set. Then, the voltage applied to the blower motor 14 is set to be higher by a predetermined value than in the case of normal control before the defroster switch 39 is turned on by the control signal from the air volume control section 41, and the blower fan 13 The rotation speed is increased and the amount of air blown is increased by a predetermined amount. Further, in the second air volume control, the air intake state and the compressor connection state are set to the outside air introduction mode and the A/C mode, respectively, as in the first air volume control, and the blower motor 14 is set to the outside air introduction mode and the A/C mode. The applied voltage is set to Hi (highest setting value), and the air flow rate is set to the maximum air flow rate.

The air volume control by the air volume control section 41 will be explained below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. When the air volume control system by the air volume control unit 41 starts while the air conditioner 1 is normally controlled by automatic operation, first, in step #1, the defroster switch (hereinafter abbreviated as a defroster switch) 39
The ON/OFF state of is determined, and if it is OFF, normal air volume control is continued (step #9). In addition, if it is ON, in step #2, the hot wire switch 44
The ON/OFF state of is determined. When the hot wire switch 44 is turned off, that is, the differential switch 3
If only 9 is turned on, it means that the degree of fogging on the window glass is not so bad, so the first air volume control is executed in step #6, and the differential switch 39 is turned on.
The amount of air blown is increased by a predetermined amount compared to the normal air amount control before the operation, and the window glass is defogged more quickly. Then, in step #7, set the differential switch 3 again.
The ON/OFF state of 9 is determined, and if it is ON, the process returns to step #2, and if it is OFF, the process returns to step #2.
At 8, normal air volume control is resumed.

On the other hand, as a result of the determination in step #2 above,
If the heat wire switch 44 is turned on, that is, if the differential switch 39 and the heat wire switch 44 are both turned on, the degree of fogging on the window glass is severe and it is difficult to remove the fog, so step #3 Then, the second air volume control is executed. That is, the conditioned air from the defroster outlet is set to the maximum air volume, thereby further promoting defrosting of the window glass. Then, in step #4, the ON/OFF state of the differential switch 39 is determined again. If it is ON, each step from step #2 onward is repeatedly executed, and if it is OFF, the normal air volume is returned to step #5. It is now back in control.

As explained above, according to this embodiment, since the air volume control section 41 is provided, if only the defroster switch 39 is turned on and the rear window glass heat wire switch 44 is not turned on, that is, When the degree of fogging on the window glass is not so severe, the first air volume control allows the air volume of the conditioned air to be increased to a certain extent to quickly clear the fog on the window glass. Further, when both the defroster switch 39 and the heat wire switch 44 are turned on, that is, when the degree of fogging on the window glass is severe and it is difficult to remove the fog, the second air volume control is performed to adjust the air flow volume of the conditioned air to the second air volume control. It is possible to set the air flow rate higher (to the maximum air flow rate) than in the case of 1 air flow rate control, thereby further promoting defogging of the window glass. In other words, it is possible to quickly defrost the window glass according to the degree of fogging without using a special sensor. In this case, since the volume of air conditioned air from the defroster outlet is controlled according to the degree of fogging of the window glass, the air volume does not cause particular discomfort to the occupants, unlike when the air volume is always blown at the maximum volume.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an outline of the equipment configuration and duct arrangement of a vehicle air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block configuration diagram showing a control system for air volume control of the vehicle air conditioner.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining air volume control of the vehicle air conditioner.

[Explanation of symbols]

1...Vehicle air conditioner 39...Defroster switch 41...Air volume control section 43...Heat ray 44...Hot wire switch

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle air conditioner installed in a vehicle having a hot wire disposed in a rear window glass, comprising: a first air volume control that increases the air volume in response to an ON operation of a defroster switch; and the defroster switch. The air conditioner for a vehicle is characterized by being provided with an air volume control means that performs a second air volume control that sets the air volume higher than the air volume in the first air volume control when both of the hot wire operation switches are turned on. Device.