JPH05201235A - Door reducing device for air conditioner for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an odor reducing device for a vehicle air conditioner, which is capable of reducing odor over the full range of operating states. CONSTITUTION:This odor reducing device is provided with a humidity sensor 17 for detecting humidity of ventilating air, a temperature sensor 19 for detecting the temperature in a car room, a bypass duct 5 allowing the ventilating air to bypas an evaporator 3 and to be supplied to the car room, a main door 7 for opening and closing a main duct 1, a bypass door 9 for opening and closing the bypass duct 5, and a computing device 15 for controlling the opening and closing of the main door and the bypass door in response to outputs of the humidity sensor and the temperature sensor.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an odor reducing device for a vehicle air conditioner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, it is known that a vehicle air conditioner may generate a bad odor at the start of air blowing, the start of air conditioning operation, or immediately after the air conditioning operation is stopped. The main source of this malodor is the evaporator.

When the evaporator is used for a long time, it adsorbs human metabolites and other odorous substances on its surface, propagates microorganisms on its surface, and produces odorous substances by its metabolic action, which are air conditioners. It becomes a major source of odor in.

As a device for preventing such an odor, a device described in JP-A-62-160911 is known. This conventional device has a bypass passage that connects the upstream side of the blower and the downstream side of the evaporator, and immediately after the blower starts, the air containing the malodor that has accumulated in the evaporator is
The gas is discharged to the outside of the vehicle through the bypass passage.

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned conventional device is intended to prevent the generation of a bad odor immediately after the start of the blower, and the odor from the evaporator can be eliminated over various operating conditions of the air conditioner. It is not intended to reduce the amount.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an odor reducing device for an air conditioner for a vehicle, which solves the above-mentioned problems with the conventional technique and enables odor reduction over the entire operating condition of the air conditioner for a vehicle. To provide.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is an apparatus for reducing the influence of odor contained in air blown from an evaporator provided in a main duct of a vehicle air conditioner on an occupant in a vehicle compartment. In, a humidity sensor for detecting the humidity of the blown air, a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature in the passenger compartment, a bypass duct for supplying the blown air to the passenger compartment by bypassing the evaporator, and a main door for opening and closing the main duct,
The present invention is characterized by having a bypass door that opens and closes the bypass duct, and a computing unit that controls the opening and closing of the main door and the bypass door according to the outputs of the humidity sensor and the temperature sensor.

[0008]

The present invention is based on the finding that humans tend to strongly perceive odors at high temperatures and high humidity. For example, it is considered that the bad odor immediately after the air conditioning operation is stopped is due to the rapid increase in humidity immediately after the operation is stopped. Further, it is considered that the bad odor is likely to be generated in the summer because not only the human sense of smell becomes sensitive in a high temperature and high humidity environment but also odorous substances are easily generated.

According to the present invention, the humidity of the air blown from the air conditioner and the room temperature are detected, and as a result, in a high-temperature and high-humidity environment, the airflow is supplied to the room bypassing the evaporator, or The operation of bypassing part of the blown air by the evaporator, mixing with the air that has passed through the evaporator, and supplying the mixed air to the room can be performed according to the operating condition of the air conditioner. According to this, it becomes possible to effectively suppress the odor felt by the occupant in various driving situations.

[0010]

FIG. 1 shows the structure of an odor reducing device according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, an evaporator 3 is arranged in a main duct 1 of a vehicle air conditioner, and the left side of the main duct 1 in the drawing leads to a blower (not shown).
The right side leads to the outlet of the dashboard (not shown).

A bypass duct 5 is provided in parallel with the main duct 1. The bypass duct 5 is connected to the main duct 1 so that the evaporator upstream side portion and the evaporator side portion of the main duct 1 communicate with each other, and the air blown from the blower is passed through the bypass duct 5 to allow the evaporator 3 to pass through. It is designed so that it can be bypassed and sent to the outlet.

A door (hereinafter referred to as a main door) 7 for opening and closing the main duct 1 is provided on the entrance side of the evaporator 3.
Is provided. At the entrance of the bypass duct 5, a door (hereinafter referred to as a bypass door) 9 for opening and closing the bypass duct 5 is provided. These doors 7, 9
The actuators 11 and 13 are placed under the control of the computing unit 15.

The calculator 15 is for controlling the opening and closing of the doors 7 and 9 and the operation of the refrigerating cycle and blower (not shown), and the actuators 11 and 13 of the doors 7 and 9,
Its output is coupled to the compressor of the refrigeration cycle and the fan motor of the blower. The input of the calculator 15 is an A / C for operating / stopping the refrigeration cycle.
It is coupled to a switch, a blower switch for operating / stopping the blower, a humidity sensor 17 for detecting the humidity of outside air or the outlet of the blower, and a temperature sensor 19 for detecting the temperature inside the vehicle.

The computing unit 15 performs the following control according to the operating condition of the air conditioner in order to reduce the influence of odor caused by the evaporator 3. In the following description, the operation / stop status of the blower will be referred to as "Blower ON / OF".
F ”, the operation / stop status of the cooling cycle is set to“ A / C O
N / OFF ”. (0) In the initial state (blower OFF, A / C OFF), the main door 7 is fully opened and the bypass door 9 is fully opened. (1) Blower ON, A / C OFF (1) Case 1: When output of temperature sensor 19 is below specified value (indoor temperature is low) Main door 7 is fully opened, bypass door 9 is fully closed, main duct Blow through 1. When the temperature is low, the absolute humidity is also low and therefore the sensitivity of humans to odors is low,
This is because the odor does not pose a problem even if the blown air is passed through the evaporator 3. (2) Case 2: When the output of the temperature sensor 19 exceeds the specified value (indoor temperature is high) and the output of the humidity sensor 17 (humidity of the outside air) also exceeds the specified value, the main door 7 is fully closed and the bypass door 9 Is fully opened and air is blown through the bypass duct 5. As a result, the blown air bypasses the evaporator 3 which is the odor source, and suppresses the odor from being blown into the room. (3) Case 3: When the output of the temperature sensor 19 exceeds the specified value and the output of the humidity sensor 17 is below the specified value The operation is the same as in case 1. That is, the main duct 1
Blow through. Because the humidity is low, the sensitivity to odor is low and the odor does not matter. (2) When the blower is ON and A / C is ON (1) Case 1: When the output of the temperature sensor 19 is below the specified value. That is,
The main door 7 is fully opened and the bypass door 9 is fully closed to blow air through the main duct 1. (2) Case 2: When the outputs of the temperature sensor 19 and the humidity sensor 17 exceed the respective specified values. From the case 2 state (the main door 7 is fully closed, the bypass door 9 is fully open) from the above (1), A The compressor is started at the same time when the / C switch is turned on, the main door 7 is fully opened after a lapse of a predetermined time (for example, 10 to 20 seconds), and the bypass door 9 is kept fully opened. That is,
The blower bypasses the evaporator 3 only for a predetermined time immediately after the start of the cooling cycle. After that, part of the blown air bypasses the evaporator 3 and the rest passes through the evaporator 3, whereby the outside air is mixed with the cool air. (3) Case 3: When the output of the temperature sensor exceeds the specified value and the output of the humidity sensor is below the specified value As in case 1, the main door 7 is fully opened and the bypass door 9 is fully closed. (3) Blower ON, A / C switch turned off (1) Immediately after A / C switch turned off Regardless of the outputs of sensors 17 and 19, the compressor continues to operate even after A / C switch turned off, and the bypass door 9 is gradually opened, and the outside air is gradually mixed with the cold air. Then, after a lapse of a predetermined time (for example, several minutes), the compressor is stopped. (2) After stopping the compressor According to the outputs of the temperature sensor 19 and the humidity sensor 17, the state of the above (1) (when the blower is ON and the A / C is OFF) is restored.

According to the above control, in an environment of high temperature and high humidity in which the human sense of smell becomes sensitive, the blower bypasses the evaporator completely or bypasses the evaporator depending on the operating condition of the air conditioner. The air will mix with the air that has passed through the evaporator to reduce the odor.

In addition, since this device reduces odor without using chemicals, it has the advantage of being durable and not requiring maintenance such as exchanging chemicals.

Further, there is an advantage that it can be realized by a simple system including a bypass duct, a flow path switching door sensor and a computing unit.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Depending on the humidity of the blast and the room temperature, it controls whether or not all or part of the blast is passed through the evaporator.Therefore, in an environment of high temperature and high humidity where the human sense of smell is sensitive, it is passed through the evaporator. It is possible to surely reduce the bad odor caused by the evaporator as the odor source by suppressing the amount of blown air to the minimum necessary amount according to the operating condition.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of an odor reducing device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Main Duct 3 Evaporator 5 Bypass Duct 7 Main Door 9 Bypass Door 15 Computing Unit 17 Humidity Sensor 19 Temperature Sensor

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A odor reducing device for reducing the influence of an odor contained in a blast having an evaporator provided in a main duct of an air conditioner for a vehicle as an odor source on an occupant in a vehicle compartment, the humidity of the blast. A humidity sensor for detecting the temperature, a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature in the vehicle compartment, a bypass duct for supplying the blown air into the vehicle compartment by bypassing the evaporator, a main door for opening and closing the main duct, and A bypass door that opens and closes a bypass duct; and a computing unit that controls the opening and closing of the main door and the bypass door according to the outputs of the humidity sensor and the temperature sensor. Odor reduction device.