JPH0662054B2 - Vehicle air conditioner operation control device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an operation control device for an air conditioner for a vehicle, which controls switching of operation modes such as an air volume and a set temperature of the air conditioner for a vehicle based on an operation of an occupant.

2. Description of the Related Art In a vehicle such as a one-box car or a minibus that has a relatively large number of passengers in the rear of the vehicle, in addition to the front air conditioner installed in the front of the driver's seat, that is, in the dash panel, mainly toward the rear of the vehicle. Some of them are independently equipped with a rear air conditioner that sends cold air or hot air.

Since this type of rear air conditioner places importance on the comfort of the rear seat occupants, its operation panel is usually arranged, for example, on the side of the vehicle body on the rear seat side so that the rear seat occupants can easily operate it. ing. That is, it is common that the driver's seat cannot be operated.

In some cases, a wireless remote control transmitter may be configured to allow remote operation from the rear seat side (for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 64-14506).

Here, in the remote control transmitter, the operation panel is for selecting cooler and heater, "strong" air volume,
A large number of switches are provided for switching "medium", "weak", "AUTO" or setting the target temperature, and of course, a considerably large panel area is required.

Therefore, even if a similar operation panel is arranged on the driver side, it is very difficult to secure the space. Therefore, as described above, the operation panel is usually provided only on the rear seat side.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, disposing the operation panel of the rear air conditioner only on the rear seat side as described above becomes very inconvenient when the passenger is not seated on the rear seat. Even if the remote control transmitter allows remote operation, the operation cannot be performed unless the transmitter is in the driver's hand.

Therefore, the present invention makes it possible to operate all of the air volume and the set temperature of the vehicle air conditioner with a very small number of switches, specifically, two switches, for example, to operate the rear air conditioner in the front seat. This is to enable the placement of the switch in a small space.

Further, it is an object of the present invention to avoid the complication of the operation when the number of switches is reduced as described above, and to enable the operation in the optimum operation mode by one-touch operation particularly when the desired mode is not requested. .

Means for Solving the Problems The operation control device for a vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention is
As shown in the figure, the display 1 for displaying the operating mode being selected and the selected operating mode among the operating modes such as the air volume and the set temperature which are set in stages, and for instructing the change of the operating mode A select switch 2, a display switching means 3 for sequentially switching the selected operation modes in a predetermined order based on an output signal of the select switch 2, and a set switch 4 for instructing an operation in the selected operation mode being displayed. And a mode conversion means 6 for changing the execution operation mode of the air conditioner 5 to the selected operation mode being displayed based on the output signal of the set switch 4.

Further, in the invention of claim 2, as shown in FIG.
And one or more sensors 7 for detecting an operating environment such as an inside temperature, an outside temperature or solar radiation, and the set switch 4 before the operation mode is selected by the select switch 2.
When the output signal of is input, the automatic mode selection means 8 for selecting the optimum operation mode based on the detection signal of the sensor 7, and after a predetermined time, change to the automatically selected operation mode to be selected. The automatic mode changing means 9 for instructing is provided.

Operation The display 1 displays the operation mode that is being executed at that time. To change this operation mode, the select switch 2 may be operated. The operation mode is selected by operating the select switch 2 and is displayed as the selected operation mode. The selected operation mode is sequentially switched in a predetermined order by further operating the select switch 2. At the stage of this mode selection,
Since the execution operation mode of the air conditioner 5 does not change, unnecessary hot air and cold air are not blown out regardless of the display switching order.

When the set switch 4 is operated at a desired position, the execution operation mode is changed to the selected operation mode at that time.

The operation modes include, for example, switching between a cooler and a heater, and air volume "strong", "medium", "weak", "AUTO", "O".
It is possible to arbitrarily set a necessary value such as a set temperature such as "FF" or "24 ° C" or "25 ° C" according to the type of the air conditioner.

On the other hand, when only the set switch 4 is operated without selecting the operation mode by the select switch 2, the optimum operation mode is automatically selected based on the detection signals of the various sensors 7 and is displayed as the selected operation mode. It If the passenger leaves it as it is, the execution operation mode is changed to the optimum selected operation mode after a predetermined time.

Embodiment Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is configured as an operation control device for the rear air conditioner of the one-box vehicle described above will be described in detail.

First, the mechanical structure will be described with reference to FIG. In the rear air conditioner of this embodiment, a cooler system and a heater system are configured independently of each other, and a cooler evaporator 11 along the vehicle width direction is mounted on a vehicle body roof portion behind a driver's seat. At the same time, a pair of cooler fans 12 are arranged in front of it. Reference numeral 13 is a refrigerant pipe, and 14 is a refrigerant flow rate adjusting solenoid valve for adjusting a refrigerant flow rate for controlling a blowout temperature (a cooler duct having an air inlet and an outlet, a fan 12, an evaporator 11 and the like is illustrated. Omitted). Further, the heater core 15 and the heater fan 16 constituting the heater system are arranged in a rear heater duct 17 provided on the side of the vehicle body. still,
The rear heater duct 17 is provided with an air inlet and an outlet. Reference numeral 18 is a hot water passage connected to the heater core 15, 19 is a water valve for controlling the circulating amount of hot water, and 20 is an actuator thereof. The actuator 20 and the refrigerant flow rate adjusting solenoid valve 14 are appropriately controlled based on a set temperature and the like described later.

Above the windshield, which is the position visible from both the driver's seat and the rear seat, that is, the front roof rail portion 2
A display unit 22 is attached to the display unit 1. The display unit 22 has an operation mode display section, which will be described later, on the front surface, and has a control circuit for a rear air conditioner, which is a microcomputer system, built therein. Further, the display unit 22 also has a function as a light receiving unit for the infrared remote control transmitter 23.

A relatively large operation panel 24 for controlling the front air conditioner is arranged on the front surface of the dash panel, and a seesaw switch 25 for operating the rear air conditioner is arranged adjacent to the operation panel 24. As sensors for detecting the driving environment, an inside air temperature sensor 26 and an outside air temperature sensor 27 are provided inside and outside the vehicle compartment, respectively, and the solar radiation sensor 2 is provided on the upper surface of the dashboard.
8 are provided.

The seesaw switch 25 has two contact points that also function as a select switch and a set switch. As shown in FIG. 3, when the lower part is pressed, the select switch is turned on, and when the upper part is pressed, the set switch is turned on. In the free state, the internal spring returns to the neutral position,
Both are turned off. Of course, both switches may be provided independently.

Next, the operation mode of the rear air conditioner will be described. Since the cooler system and the heater system are independent of each other in this rear air conditioner, they can be operated separately and both can be operated at the same time. Of the air, the air volume of the heater fan 16, and the set temperature. This operation mode is performed by the display unit 22 shown in FIG.
Since it corresponds to the configuration of the display unit on the front face as it is, the air volume of the cooler fan 12 is
It is designed to be switched among five types of "AUTO", "1", "2", "3", and "OFF", and the display section is provided with a light emitting element on the back surface corresponding to each operation mode. An indicator 31 composed of the displayed characters is arranged.
Here, "AUTO" is a mode in which the air volume is controlled to the optimum air volume calculated from the relationship between the set temperature and the internal temperature.

“1” to “3” are modes that are driven at predetermined rotational speeds, and correspond to “weak”, “medium”, and “strong”. still,
In the "OFF" mode, the cooler fan 12 is stopped and the refrigerant flow rate adjusting solenoid valve 14 is closed to stop the circulation of the refrigerant. The air volume of the heater fan 16 is
Just like the cooler system, "AUTO", "1",
There are five types of switching such as "2", "3", and "OFF", and indicators 32 corresponding to these are arranged on the display section. In the “OFF” state, the circulation of hot water to the heater core 15 is also stopped. Furthermore, the set temperature is centered around 25 ° C, which is the standard room temperature.
The display is divided into modes of stages, and the indicator 33 corresponding to this is composed of nine rectangular segments.
Are arranged.

In addition, the central segment corresponding to 25 ° C is formed vertically long and slender for the purpose of distinguishing it from the others, and the low temperature side segments are arranged on the left side and the high temperature side segments are arranged on the right side. There is.

Further, in FIG. 4, reference numeral 34 is a light receiving portion for receiving an infrared signal transmitted from the remote control transmitter 23.

The indicators 31, 32, 33 in the display section are
At that time, the operation mode being executed in the air conditioner is lit up and displayed. For example, the cooler fan 12 at the set temperature of 25 ° C
Is "AUTO" and the heater fan 16 is "AUTO", the character display of "AUTO" is lit in the indicator 31 and the indicator 32, and the central segment is lit in the indicator 33. . Even when the cooler or the heater is "OFF", the "OFF" is similarly lit and displayed.

At the same time, the indicators 31, 32 and 33 blink to display the operation mode which is arbitrarily selected by the select switch or is selected fully automatically as will be described later, that is, the selected operation mode. Here, when the select switch is pressed, the selected operating modes which are displayed in blinking are moved one by one. The scanning order at that time is as follows: "AUTO" → "1" → on the cooler side.
“2” → “3” → “OFF”, followed by “AU” on the heater side.
The order is from “TO” → “1” → “2” → “3” → “OFF”, and from the low temperature side segment of the set temperature to the high temperature side segment one by one. Of course, after the last segment of the set temperature, it will return to "AUTO" on the cooler side again.

Next, the outline of the operation in the above configuration will be described.

The rear air conditioner is remotely operated by a remote control transmitter 23 from a passenger in the rear seat. In the remote control control transmitter 23, for example, switch groups and settings individually corresponding to the above-mentioned cooler system "AUTO", "1" ... "OFF" and heater system "AUTO", "1" ... "OFF", respectively. Temperature "up", "down"
Switches and the like are provided.

On the other hand, on the driver side, one seesaw switch 2
It is operated only by the select switch and the set switch consisting of 5. That is, if the select switch is pressed during execution of a certain operation mode, the display unit 22
One selected operating mode is displayed in blinking, and by pressing the select switch a plurality of times, the operating mode in blinking, that is, the selected operating mode is sequentially switched according to the above-described scanning order. On the display, the blinking position of the indicator sequentially moves to the right.
However, at this stage, the operation mode actually executed does not change. Therefore, even if the selected operation mode is sequentially switched from the "AUTO" side of the cooler system in order to change the set temperature, there is no unnecessary change in the air flow during the process. Then, when it is confirmed that the blinking position has moved to the desired operation mode, if the set switch is pressed at that position, the actual operation mode is changed to the selected operation mode. That is, the operation is performed according to the selected operation mode at that time. Along with this, on the display, the indicator that has been blinking until then is switched to a lighting display. It should be noted that this air conditioner is operated according to three combinations of a cooler system mode, a heater system mode, and a set temperature mode.
Even if the species is changed by the above operation, the other two species are not affected and the previous mode is continued.
For example, the cooler is "AUTO", the heater is "AUTO",
When the set temperature is 25 ° C, if you operate the select switch to change the set temperature and make another set temperature segment blink, and press the set switch there, only the set temperature is changed to the specified mode. , The cooler and heater "AUOT" states do not change at all.

As described above, in the above configuration, all necessary operations can be performed only by operating the select switch and the set switch.

On the other hand, when the driver presses only the set switch, either the cooler is operated, the heater is operated, or both are operated depending on the relationship between the inside temperature and the outside temperature at that time or the amount of solar radiation and the set temperature. Either of simultaneous operation is automatically selected, and optimum operation is performed toward the set temperature. Therefore, even when the driver does not know the operating procedure using both the select switch and the set switch, a comfortable air conditioning effect can be easily obtained by simply pressing only the set switch.

Next, the flow charts of FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 show the outline of the control program executed by the control circuit in the display unit 22, and hereinafter, with reference to these flow charts, the above-mentioned rear air conditioner will be described. The operation control will be described in more detail.

FIG. 5 shows a main flow chart for controlling the execution operation mode of the air conditioner mainly based on the pressing operation of the set switch, and FIG. 6 mainly switches the selected operation mode based on the pressing operation of the select switch. The flowchart of select control is shown. Note that these are executed in parallel.

First, the flow of the main flow chart will be described. When the ignition key switch (not shown) is turned on (step 1), substantial control is started, and the air conditioner is started to operate according to the last operation mode of the previous operation ( Step 2). This operation mode is described in the memory backed up by the vehicle-mounted battery, and if the cooler or heater was "OFF" at the time of the previous operation, it can be restarted in the "OFF" state. The execution operation mode at this time is lit and displayed as described above.

Next, in step 3, it is repeatedly determined whether or not the set switch has been pressed. If the set switch is not pressed, the operation mode currently being executed is retained. (Step 4). At the same time, the ON / OFF state of the ignition key switch is repeatedly determined (step 5), and when the switch is turned off, the execution operation mode immediately before that is used as data for restarting the operation next time. It is stored in the memory (switch 7).
Then, the indicator is turned off and the operation of the entire air conditioner is stopped (steps 6 and 8). When the set switch is pressed, the process proceeds from step 3 to step 9 to determine whether or not the indicator is blinking, that is, whether or not there is an operating mode that is being displayed as blinking as the selected operating mode. Here, if the select switch is pressed prior to the pressing operation of the set switch, one of the operation modes is blinked and displayed as the selected operation mode according to the flowchart of FIG. 6 described later. In this case, since the pressing operation of the select switch is based on the operator's intention to operate in the blinking selected operation mode, the execution operation mode is immediately changed (step 11), and the operation in accordance with it is changed. Done. at the same time,
The blinking indicator is switched to the lit display. (Step 10).

Therefore, the fan air flow rate and the temperature can be arbitrarily set by repeating the operation mode selection operation using the select switch and the operation mode determination operation using the set switch.

On the other hand, if the indicator does not blink when the set switch is pressed, in other words, if the set switch is pushed even if the indicator on the display unit does not blink at all, the operator Since it is considered that the user wants to perform air conditioning without selecting a desired mode, the operation mode is automatically selected in step 12 and the subsequent steps.

This automatic selection of the operation mode is performed based on the value E related to the amount of heat in the passenger compartment at that time, but both the cooler and the heater are in the "OFF" state when the set switch is pressed. In this case, for the purpose of confirming the set temperature by the operator, the indicator corresponding to the set temperature before that (the set temperature stored in the memory immediately after the start of operation) is displayed in blinking (steps 12, 13, 1
4).

Then, in step 15, the above value E is compared with the first predetermined value K, and if E> K, the cooler operation mode is "AUTO", and if E≤K, “OFF” is selected respectively. That is, either "AUTO" or "OFF" is displayed in blinking as the selected mode (steps 16 and 17). Here, the above E is obtained by the following equation using the inside air temperature ti, the outside air temperature ta, the set temperature tp, and the amount of solar radiation Is.

E = ati + bta + ctp + dIs + e + f However, a to f are appropriate constants.

Further, in step 18, the value E is compared with the second predetermined value L (where L> K), and when E <L, “AUTO” as the operation mode of the heater is E ≧ L. In this case, “OFF” is selected, and the corresponding indicator is also displayed in blinking (steps 19 and 2).
0). In short, if the value of E is in the range of L to K, both the cooler and the heater are operated in the "AUTO" mode, if it is K or less, only the heater is operated, and if it is L or more, only the cooler is operated in the "AUTO" mode. It is selected.

Then, at this time, the timer T1 is started (step 21), and waits for 5 seconds while keeping the indicator of the automatically selected mode blinking (step 26). If another spontaneous operation is performed within 5 seconds, it is considered that the operator has no intention to switch to another operation mode.
The indicator which is currently blinking is lit and displayed (step 27), and two seconds later (step 28), the execution operation mode is changed to the automatically selected operation mode (step 11).

Therefore, no matter what operating mode the engine is operating in, including the "OFF" state, simply pressing the set switch will cause the "cooler" and "heater" both to operate according to various conditions at that time. AUTO ”, cooler only“ AU
Since the operation is performed by either "TO" or "AUTO" of only the heater, the operation of artificially selecting the operation mode can be omitted, and the operation becomes extremely simple.

Also, even if the operating mode is once automatically selected by operating the set switch as described above, it is possible to change the set temperature etc. to another operating mode by operating the select switch while the indicator is blinking if necessary. (Step 23). In this case, the timer 1 is reset (step 30) and the normal operation control is restored. Similarly, when there is an operation input from the remote control transmitter 23 while the indicator is blinking for 5 seconds, the operation mode is switched according to the operation input, and then the normal operation control is restored (steps 22, 29, 30). ). During normal operation (state where the indicator is not blinking), the remote control transmitter 23 can directly switch to each operation mode. If the ignition key switch is turned off while the indicator is blinking for 5 seconds (step 24), the operation mode being executed immediately before is stored (step 7).

As described above, after automatically selecting the operation mode, by setting the waiting time of 5 seconds with the indicator blinking, it is possible to prevent sudden "AUTO" state due to an incorrect operation. In addition, there is sufficient room for changing the mode according to the operator's preference.

If the set switch is pressed again during the above-mentioned waiting time of 5 seconds, the operation in the automatically selected operation mode (that is, the blinking “AUTO” mode) can be started positively and early. Is possible (Step 2
5, 31-34, 11). That is, the indicator is switched to the lighting display, and the execution operation mode is changed 2 seconds after the lighting display. Therefore, immediately after the start of operation, the change to the optimum mode can be completed early by simply pressing the set switch twice.

Next, the flow of the flowchart of FIG. 6 for performing the select control will be described. First, in step 51, it is repeatedly determined whether or not the select switch is pressed, and when the press operation is detected, the selected operation is performed. The mode is switched to the next mode according to the scanning order described above (step 54). That is, on the display, the position of the blinking display moves to the next one. When the select switch is pressed a plurality of times, the selected operation mode is sequentially switched by the number of times. Also, when the select switch is kept pressed, the selected operation mode is switched at regular intervals. It should be noted that, in response to the first pressing operation when there is no blinking indicator, there is always a constant mode (for example, the cooler “AUT
O ") may be configured to blink first, or the last selected mode at the time of the previous mode change may be stored and it may be configured to blink first.

When the select switch is operated as described above and the indicator is in the blinking state, in other words, when the set switch is in the input waiting state, the operation by the remote control transmitter 23 is temporarily prohibited as the operation on the driver side is prioritized ( Step 52) and the timer T2 is started.
That is, the timer T2 indicates the elapsed time since the select switch was last operated.

At the timing when the select switch is not pressed, the process proceeds to step 55 and thereafter, and it is determined whether or not another operation is performed. Normally, since the set switch is pressed following the operation of the select switch, the timer T2 is reset at that time (steps 55 and 5).
6). As to the pressing operation of the set switch, as described above, steps 3 and 9 to 1 of the main flowchart are performed.
Since the process 1 is performed, the execution operation mode is changed to the selected operation mode that is flashing at that time.
Of course, when the indicator is not blinking, the automatic selection of the operation mode is started.

Further, when there is an operation input from the remote control transmitter 23 (step 57), if the indicator is in the blinking state, the operation input is ignored as described above, but at that time, the timer T2 is set to 10 seconds. If so, the blinking state of the indicator is canceled (step 6).
0), remote operation by the remote control transmitter 23 is permitted (step 61). Then, the timer T2 is reset (step 59). That is, after operating the select switch once, in principle, the driver's operation (input by the set switch) is prioritized, but if the driver leaves the select switch for 10 seconds or more, The operation mode selection state is released, the blinking display disappears, and the rear-seat occupant can perform remote operation.

When the ignition key switch is turned off (step 62), the control ends, but at that time, the immediately preceding execution operation mode is stored in the main flowchart as described above.

Then, in step 63, it is judged whether or not the timer T2 has become 30 seconds or longer. If it is 30 seconds or longer, the blinking state of the indicator is released (step 64) and the timer T2 is reset (step 65). ). That is, when the driver operates the select switch to select the operation mode and then leaves it for 30 seconds or more without operating the set switch, the selected state of the operation mode is automatically released and the blinking display is displayed. It disappears and the state before the operation of the select switch is restored. Therefore, for example, when the driver once operates the select switch and then forgets to operate the next set switch due to the distracting operation of the vehicle, the driver naturally returns to the state before the select switch operation. Therefore, when touching the set switch thereafter, there is no problem that an unexpected operation mode is immediately executed.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the rear air conditioner as in the above embodiment. Further, it is of course possible to control, for example, the selection of the air outlet and the opening degree of the air mix door as the operation mode.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION As is apparent from the above description, according to the operation control device for an air conditioner for a vehicle according to the present invention, various operation modes of the air conditioner can be operated by only two switches. This is very suitable when operating the air conditioner on the driver's side.

After selecting the operating mode with one of the select switches, the operating mode is executed by operating the other set switch, so the actual operating mode of the air conditioner while the required operating mode is being selected. There is no inconvenience such as that changes unnecessarily.

Further, since the operation in the optimum operation mode can be performed by only one-touch operation of the set switch, the operation becomes extremely easy unless a desired mode is requested. Moreover, it is not necessary to separately provide a switch for that purpose, and the switch installation space can be minimized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a claim correspondence diagram showing the configuration of the invention according to claim 1, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the mechanical configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a front view of a seesaw switch, and FIG. Is an explanatory view showing the layout of the front surface of the display unit, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are flow charts showing the control program of this embodiment. 1 ... Display unit, 2 ... Select switch, 3 ... Display switching means, 4 ... Set switch, 5 ... Air conditioner, 6 ...
... mode changing means, 7 ... sensor, 8 ... automatic mode selecting means, 9 ... automatic mode changing means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A display for displaying an operating mode being selected and an operating mode being selected among operating modes such as an air volume and a set temperature set in stages, and a select switch for instructing a change of the operating mode. A display switching means for sequentially switching the selected operation mode in a predetermined order based on the output signal of the select switch; a set switch for instructing the operation in the selected operation mode being displayed; A mode changing means for changing the execution operation mode of the air conditioner to the selected operation mode being displayed based on the output signal, one or a plurality of sensors for detecting the operating environment such as temperature, and the operation mode of the select switch. When the output signal of the set switch is input before selection, the optimum operation mode is selected based on the detection signal of the sensor. An automatic mode selection means, after a predetermined time, the operation control device for a vehicle air conditioning system comprising a automatic mode change means for instructing a change to the automatic selected the selected operation mode.