JPH07101232A - Method for controlling load of air-conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the dimming of a head light, etc., by variably controlling the power consumption from the small value to the large value to suppress the voltage drop when the number of cooling fans to be operated is increased. CONSTITUTION:The count value T of a timer is compared with the delay time C1 in the step S3, the delay time C1 is compared, and the elapse of the delay time C1 allows the advance to the step S4, and a solenoid clutch is turned ON to start a compressor by the engine powder. When the compressor is started, the step S5 makes a judgement whether the delay time C2 is elapsed in the step S5. After the delay time is elapsed, the control is advanced to the step S6 to turn ON the FAN 2, and advanced to the step S7 to make a main fan in the operating condition in Low mode. Then, the step S8 makes a judgement whether the delay time C3 is elapsed, and after the delay time is elapsed, the step S9 makes the FAN 2 turned OFF and the FAN 1 turned ON. The step S10 makes both the main fan and the sub fan of the condenser in the operating condition in Low mode.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a load control method for operating various power loads and electric loads in an air conditioner for vehicles such as automobiles, and more particularly to measures for preventing a momentary battery voltage drop. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in regard to power load control in an air conditioner of this type, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 59-40117.
There is a prior art in Japanese Patent Publication No. JP-A-2003-242, which shows that when the air conditioner is operated, the idle up device (FICD) is first operated to increase the engine speed, and then the compressor of the air conditioner device is operated after a predetermined delay time has elapsed. There is.
Therefore, this power load control prevents the compressor from always operating in a state where the engine speed is high when the air conditioner is operating, and the cooling load is prevented from being lowered or stalled due to the power load of the compressor.

Regarding electric load control, for example, there is a prior art disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 61-106412. In this prior art, a radiator and a condenser of an air conditioner are closely arranged in parallel in front of an engine body, and two electric fans are provided behind them to obtain a large cooling capacity, and a traveling wind and two electric fans are provided. The radiator and the condenser are cooled together by the cooling air generated by the operation of the fan. It is shown that when the two electric fans are operated, the delay circuit operates the other one by delaying the other from the other by a certain time. Therefore, the electric load control reduces the electric load that accompanies the operation of the two electric fans.

[0004]

The latter of the above prior arts, however, has the following disadvantages because the operation timings of the two electric fans are merely shifted. That is, when the headlights are turned on at night and the vehicle runs at a low speed, the charge / discharge balance of the battery may be lost on the discharge side. At this time, the air-conditioner operation may shift the operation timing of the two electric fans. When operating at maximum, the power consumption becomes larger than the power generated by the alternator. Therefore, even if there is no problem when the first electric fan is operating, the battery voltage may be lowered when the second electric fan is operating, and the headlight may be dimmed instantaneously. Therefore, when operating the two electric fans at different times, further consider the state of power consumption,
Alternatively, it is required to reduce dimming in consideration of the power generation status of the alternator.

In view of the above, the present invention suppresses the voltage drop by dispersing the inrush current of the fan motor generated by the operation of the electric fan during the operation of the air conditioner, and does not cause dimming of the headlight. The purpose is to control the electrical load.

[0006]

To achieve this object, the present invention provides two cooling fans for cooling a radiator and a condenser together, at least after compressor operation.
In an air-conditioning system in which the load is controlled so that one of them is activated first, and then two are activated with a delay, when increasing the number of operating two cooling fans, the power consumption is changed from a small state to a large state. It is characterized by controlling.

[0007]

In the present invention according to the above control method, after the air conditioner operates, for example, one cooling fan first operates in a low power consumption low mode, and then two cooling fans both consume a low power consumption low mode. And the two cooling fans are controlled to operate in the Hi mode, which consumes a large amount of power. By variably controlling not only the operating number but also the power consumption,
The electric load of each cooling fan is applied very slowly,
Battery voltage drop is suppressed. For this reason, light is less likely to be dimmed even at night when the headlights are on.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, an overall outline of the air conditioner will be described. Reference numeral 1 denotes a vehicle, an engine body 2 is mounted in an engine room in front of the vehicle 1, and a radiator 3 is installed in front of the engine body 2 so as to communicate with each other through a cooling water passage 4. As a means to idle up the engine,
For example, a bypass passage 6 is connected to the throttle valve 5 of the intake system of the engine body 2, and an idle up device (FICD) 7 is provided in the bypass passage 6.

The electric control system has a battery 8, and the battery 8 is connected in a circuit so that the power generated by the alternator 11 is voltage-controlled by the regulator 12 to be charged.
The battery 8 is connected to supply power to the control unit 10, and operates the idle-up device 7 and the like by an electric signal from the control unit 10. The battery 8 is also connected to various electric loads 14 such as headlights via the relay 13. When the switch 15 is operated, the control unit 10 turns on the relay 13 to energize the electric loads 14 such as headlights. Connected to.

Reference numeral 20 is an air conditioner device, in which a condenser 21 is arranged immediately in front of the radiator 3 and in parallel,
Behind these, two electric cooling fans, a main fan 22 and a sub fan 23, are arranged so as to cool the radiator 3 and the condenser 21 together. A compressor 25 having an electromagnetic clutch 24 is arranged near the engine body 2 so as to be driven by engine power, and an evaporator 27 is installed inside an instrument panel 26 on the vehicle interior side.
Is housed. Then, the discharge side of the compressor 25 is communicated with the condenser 21 by the refrigerant passage 28, and the condenser 2
1 is communicated with the evaporator 27 via the receiver 29 and the expansion valve 30, and the evaporator 27 is communicated with the suction side of the compressor 25.

When the air conditioner is operating, the electromagnetic clutch 24
When the compressor 25 is activated by the
The high-temperature high-pressure gaseous refrigerant compressed in 5 is passed through the condenser 21.
Sent to a fan and two fans 2
It is forcibly cooled by the cooling air from 2, 23 and changes into a liquid refrigerant. After that, the liquid refrigerant is temporarily stored in the receiver 29, the expansion valve 30 lowers the pressure of the high-pressure liquid refrigerant, atomizes it, and sends it to the evaporator 27. Then, the evaporator 27 becomes a low temperature state by vaporizing the mist-like refrigerant, and the air in the vehicle compartment is blown by the blower fan.
Passing through makes the air cool and blows out to cool the vehicle interior.

Explaining the control system, the battery 8 is connected to the main fan 22 and the sub fan 23 via the relay 35.
Is connected so as to supply power to the electromagnetic clutch 24 on the motor side. Further, it has an air conditioner unit 37 to which a signal from the air conditioner switch 36 is inputted, and operates the control unit 10 according to an instruction from the air conditioner unit 37 when the air conditioner is operating. Then, the idle up device 7 is activated, and the relay 35
Is turned on to operate the main fan 22, the sub fan 23, and the electromagnetic clutch 24.

Referring to FIG. 2, specific electric circuits of the main fan 22, the sub fan 23, etc. will be described. The motor side of the main fan 22 and the sub fan 23 has two input terminals P1 and P2, and when one terminal P1 is energized, it is in a Low mode in which it rotates at low speed with low current consumption, and when both terminals P1 and P2 are energized. The current consumption increases and the Hi mode is reached, which rotates at high speed. Thus two fans 2
2 and 23 are controlled to switch between Low and Hi in two stages, and vibration,
Reduces noise and eliminates the need for excessive cooling, battery 8
It is possible to achieve a balance of charge and discharge.

On the other hand, when the control signal FAN1 of the control unit 10 turns ON, the first and third relays R1 and R1
When R3 is turned on and FAN2 is turned on, the second and fourth relays R2 and R4 are connected so as to be turned on. On the battery side, when the first relay R1 is ON, one terminal P1 of the sub fan 23 is energized, when the third relay R3 is ON, one terminal P1 of the main fan 22 is energized, and the fourth relay R4 is ON. Then, the other terminal P2 of the main fan 22 is energized. When the second relay R2 is turned on while the first relay R1 is turned on, the other terminal P of the sub fan 23 is
Energize 2. Further, the control unit 10 electrically connects to the electromagnetic clutch 24.

The control logic of the above electric circuit is shown below.
It is as shown in Table 1 below.

[Table 1]

According to Table 1, when the fan 2 is turned on, only the main fan 22 operates in the low mode,
Both sub fan 23 and main fan 22 are low at N
Operates in mode. When FAN1 and FAN2 are turned on, both the main fan 22 and the sub fan 23 operate in the Hi mode. Therefore, when operating the air conditioner, FAN1 and FAN
By controlling ON / OFF of 2 at a predetermined delay time, the main fan 22 and the sub fan 23 can be operated with a delay. At this time, the operating states of the main fan 22 and the sub fan 23 are switched to Low and Hi in two stages, and the consumption current can be variably controlled.

Next, load control during operation of the air conditioner will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, when the engine of the vehicle 1 is in operation, the signal from the air conditioner switch 36 is checked in step S1 and when the switch is turned on, the control unit 10 starts control according to an instruction from the air conditioner unit 37. That is, the process proceeds to step S2 and the idle up device 7 is operated, whereby the engine speed increases when idling or at low load. After that, in step S3, the count value T of the timer is compared with the delay time C1, and when the delay time C1 has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S4 and the electromagnetic clutch 24 is turned on.
Then, the compressor 25 of the air conditioner 20 is operated by the engine power.

Therefore, in the idling or low load operation state, the engine 25 is constantly loaded with the power load of the compressor 25 in a state where the engine speed is increased to prevent engine stall or the like.
Further, when the compressor 25 starts operating, the gaseous refrigerant compressed to high temperature and high pressure is sent to the condenser 21 in the air conditioner device 20 and can be cooled.

When the compressor 25 operates, it is determined in step S5 whether or not the delay time C2 has elapsed. After the delay time has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S6 to turn on the FAN2. Therefore, the process proceeds to step S7 and the condenser 21
As shown in FIG. 4, the main fan 22 of FIG. 4 is in the low mode operating state, the main fan 22 rotates at a low speed with a small current consumption, the cooling air hits the condenser 21, and the refrigerant starts to be cooled.

Thereafter, in step S8, it is determined whether or not the delay time C3 has elapsed. After the delay time has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S9, in which FAN2 is turned off and FAN1 is turned on. Therefore, the process proceeds to step S10, in which both the main fan 22 and the sub fan 23 of the condenser 21 are in the Low mode operating state as shown in FIG. Therefore, the sub fan 23 also rotates at a low speed with a small current consumption. Therefore, the number of operating the two fans 22 and 23 depends on the delay times C2 and C3.
The current consumption is suppressed to a small state when the delay time increases due to the two fans 22 and 23.
The electric load of is very slow. Therefore, the voltage drop is suppressed by dispersing the power consumption with respect to the power generated by the alternator 11, and it is less likely that the light will be instantaneously dimmed while the headlights are lit at night. Will not occur.

On the other hand, the operation of the two fans 22 and 23 increases the cooling air volume, and the cooling capacity of the condenser 21 also increases. There, the gaseous refrigerant is cooled to some extent and changed to a liquid refrigerant, and this liquid refrigerant enters the expansion valve 30 via the receiver 29, becomes atomized refrigerant, and is sent to the evaporator 27 to be in a low temperature state. Therefore, when the set temperature is high, the two fans 22 and 23 are rotated at a low speed to be sufficiently cooled in a quiet state with less vibration and noise.

After the two fans 22 and 23 start rotating at a low speed, the operation proceeds to step S11, where it is determined whether or not the delay time C4 has elapsed. After the delay time has elapsed, FAN2 is set in step S12. Turn on both FAN1. Therefore, the process proceeds to step S13, and both the main fan 22 and the sub fan 23 of the condenser 21 are in the Hi mode operating state as shown in FIG. Therefore, the two fans 22 and 23 consume a large amount of current and rotate at a high speed, the condenser 21 sufficiently cools the gaseous refrigerant, and the evaporator 27 can maximize its cooling capacity. still,
The delay times C2 to C4 can always maintain a good charge / discharge balance of the battery 8 by taking into account the time required for power generation by the alternator 11.

Next, another embodiment of the load control method of the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, in consideration of the power generation state of the alternator 11 controlled by the load response type, in particular,
When the second sub fan 23 operates, the battery 8
It is intended to suppress the voltage drop. That is, alternator 1
Considering the situation of power generation by No. 1, power generation is performed so that the generated current linearly increases with the passage of time when the electric load increases, and the power generation is stopped when the required current is reached. Therefore, when the alternator 11 stops generating electricity when the first main fan 22 is activated, the second sub fan 23 is activated, the voltage of the battery 8 drops equally during each fan operation, and the headlight is lit. It may be fading twice.

Therefore, in order to prevent the above-mentioned dimming twice, the second sub-fan 23 is turned on during the power generation by the alternator 11 when the generated current also reaches the current required for the operation of the main fan. It should work. Therefore, the time Tx required for the alternator 11 to generate the current required when the first main fan 22 operates in the Low mode is determined, and the sub-fan operation timing Txo is set immediately before the required time Tx. , The sub fan 23 may be controlled to operate.

Another load control when the air conditioner is operating based on this control principle will be described with reference to the flow chart of FIG. 5 and the characteristic diagram of FIG. After operating the main fan 22 in the low mode in steps S6 and 7 which are the same as those in the flowchart of FIG. 3, the process proceeds to step S14, and it is determined whether or not the count value T of the timer has reached the sub fan operation timing Txo.
When the sub-fan operation timing Txo is reached, the process proceeds to steps S9 and S10, the sub-fan 23 also operates in the Low mode, and the same control is performed thereafter.

Therefore, in this load control, as shown in FIG. 6, the power generation of the alternator 11 by the operation of the main fan 22 is continuously performed even when the sub fan 23 is operated. Then, the electric load of the sub fan 23 is applied at the time when the main fan 22 substantially satisfies the necessary current for operating in the Low mode, so that the decrease amount V2 of the battery voltage in this case.
Is smaller than the original reduction amount V1. In this way, the voltage fluctuation of the battery 8 when the two fans 22 and 23 are operated is further suppressed. Therefore, even if the first light is dimmed while the headlight is on, that state will continue to the extent that 2 Dimming is prevented.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described above, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, 2 fans to 3
It can also be applied to the case where switching control is performed in steps or more.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention,
At least two cooling fans for cooling the radiator and the condenser together after the compressor is operated, in which the load is controlled so that one of the cooling fans operates first, and then the other two fans operate with a delay. This is a method of variably controlling the power consumption to increase from the low power consumption state when increasing the number of operating batteries. Therefore, it is possible to reliably suppress the decrease in the battery voltage. For this reason, it is possible to reduce dimming even when the headlight is on, ensure a good visual field, and eliminate discomfort. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the method of controlling the switching from the one-piece operation to the two-piece operation in consideration of the power generation state of the alternator further reduces the fluctuation of the battery voltage. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the headlight from being dimmed twice when the fan is operating. Since the alternator is kept in a continuous power generation state, battery charging is performed quickly and satisfactorily, and vibration and the like are reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an overall outline of an air conditioner to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing an electric circuit such as a main fan and a sub fan.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing load control of the air conditioner device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is the same time chart.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a main part showing another load control of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a characteristic diagram of voltage and generated current.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Radiator 20 Air conditioner 21 Condenser 22 Main fan 23 Sub fan 25 Compressor

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An air conditioner apparatus for performing load control so that, after at least the operation of a compressor, two cooling fans for cooling a radiator and a condenser together are operated first, and then two cooling fans are operated with a delay. A load control method for an air conditioner, which comprises variably controlling power consumption to increase from a low state when increasing the number of operating two cooling fans. 2. A main fan and a sub fan are provided as two cooling fans, the main fan is first operated in a low mode, and then the sub fan is also operated in a low mode after a lapse of a predetermined delay time. The load control method for an air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein both the main fan and the sub fan are operated in a Hi mode after the delay time has elapsed. 3. After the operation of one of the two cooling fans, during the alternator power generation at the time immediately before the time required to substantially satisfy the electric current required for the operation of the one cooling fan by the power generation of the alternator, The load control method for an air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the operation is switched to two.