JPH09136532A - Air-conditioner auxiliary device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance airtightness between each door opening and closing an opening in an adsorbent chamber and the opening. SOLUTION: When auxiliary heating is not perfomed, doors 3a, 3b are closed, and air inside an adsorbent chamber 2 is sucked by means of a vacuum pump 6. The pressure within the adsorbent chamber 2 is thus made lower than atmospheric pressure, and forces oriented toward both inlets 2a, 2b are made to work on the doors 3a, 3b by the differential pressure between the inside and outside of the adsorbent chamber 2. The doors 3a, 3b are therefore pressed by the inlets 2a, 2b, so airtightenss between them can be enhanced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioning auxiliary device using an adsorbent that adsorbs moisture in the air to generate heat of adsorption, and is suitable for use in vehicles.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, electric vehicles and diesel engine vehicles have a low heating capacity. Therefore, in a vehicle air-conditioning system that requires a heating capacity such as in cold regions, adsorption of a renewable adsorbent such as silica gel An air conditioning auxiliary device has been proposed that assists heating using heat.

As a structure of an air conditioning auxiliary device using this adsorbent, there is a structure described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-143982, and the structure is described below. That is, an adsorbent chamber for accommodating an adsorbent is formed in an air-conditioning casing forming an air flow path, and an opening / closing door for opening / closing an opening on the upstream / downstream side of the air flow of the adsorbent chamber is provided. And
When assisting heating by using heat of adsorption, open the open / close door and blow air to absorb moisture, and close the open / close door to close the adsorbent chamber during non-heating assistance (when moisture absorption is not desired). It prevents the adsorbent from adsorbing water.

[0004]

By the way, since the adsorption of water by the adsorbent naturally proceeds until the adsorption of water is saturated, the adsorbent chamber should be closed to prevent contact with air during non-heating assistance. Need to shut off. However, according to the invention described in the above publication, the opening / closing door and the opening are opened because the opening / closing door is pressed against the opening of the adsorbent chamber only by opening / closing the opening / closing door, and there is no mechanism for maintaining the pressed state. The airtightness of the adsorbent chamber becomes insufficient because the airtightness of the adsorbent chamber becomes insufficient.

For this reason, moisture adsorption progresses during non-heating assistance, and sufficient moisture adsorption cannot be achieved when heating assistance is desired using the heat of adsorption, so that the desired heating assistance capacity cannot be exhibited. Occur. The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to improve the airtightness between an opening / closing door that opens and closes an opening of an adsorbent chamber and the opening.

[0006]

The present invention uses the following technical means in order to achieve the above object. In the invention according to claim 1, the air inlet (2a) of the adsorbent chamber (2)
The air outlet (2b) is configured to communicate with the air flow path of the air conditioner. The pressure inside the adsorbent chamber (2) when the open / close doors (3a, 3b) of the adsorbent chamber (2) are closed is determined by the air suction device (6, 11). It is characterized by being sucked and lower than atmospheric pressure.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the air-conditioning auxiliary device according to the first aspect, the pipe (7) that connects the adsorbent chamber (2) and the air suction device (6, 11) is connected to the pipe (7). A valve device (8) for controlling opening / closing of the communication state of the pipe (7) is arranged. The valve device (8) is closed when the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the adsorbent chamber (2) when the opening / closing doors (3a, 3b) are closed reaches a predetermined value.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the air conditioning auxiliary device according to the second aspect is mounted on a vehicle, and as an air suction device, a negative pressure type booster for reducing the operating force of the vehicle braking device. The negative pressure generator (6) of (9) is used, and further, the valve device (8) has a predetermined pressure difference between the inside and outside of the adsorbent chamber (2) when the opening / closing doors (3a, 3b) are closed. In the reached state, the closed state is maintained even if the negative pressure generator (6) is stopped.

Next, the function and effect will be described. According to the invention described in claims 1 to 3, when the opening / closing doors (3a, 3b) are closed, the air in the adsorbent chamber (2) is sucked by the air suction device (6, 11), Since the pressure in the adsorbent chamber (2) is lower than the atmospheric pressure, the opening / closing doors (3a, 3a, 3)
In b), a force acting toward both outflow inlets (2a, 2b) acts due to the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the adsorbent chamber (2). That is, since the opening / closing doors (3a, 3b) are pressed against both the outflow inlets (2a, 2b), it is possible to improve the airtightness between them. Further, since it is possible to prevent the progress of moisture adsorption during non-heating assistance, desired heating assistance ability can be exerted during heating assistance.

Further, since the air in the adsorbent chamber (2) is sucked by the air suction device (6, 11) and the amount of water in the adsorbent chamber (2) is reduced, the progress of moisture adsorption during non-heating assistance is prevented. can do. Therefore, the necessity of regenerating the adsorbent (1) before the heating assistance is reduced, so that the use of a heat source such as warm air for driving the later-described adsorbent (1) or electricity such as a heater for driving the heater is suppressed. can do.

According to the second aspect of the invention, when the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the adsorbent chamber (2) when the opening / closing doors (3a, 3b) are closed reaches a predetermined value, the valve device (8 ) Is closed, the pressure inside the adsorbent chamber (2) can be maintained at a predetermined pressure. Therefore, since the air suction device (6, 11) can be stopped after the valve device (8) is closed, energy saving of the air conditioning auxiliary device can be achieved.

According to the third aspect of the invention, since the negative pressure generating device (6) of the negative pressure type booster (9) for reducing the operating force of the vehicle braking device is used as the air suction device,
There is no need to install a new air suction device. Therefore,
Since the number of components of the air conditioning auxiliary device is reduced, it is possible to suppress the manufacturing cost of the air conditioning auxiliary device and obtain the above effect.

[0013]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention; (First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an air conditioning auxiliary device according to this embodiment applied to an automobile.

Reference numeral 1 is a regenerable adsorbent that generates heat of adsorption when adsorbing water such as silica gel. The adsorbent 1 is housed in an adsorbent chamber 2 made of resin. The adsorbent chamber 2 is formed in an air conditioning casing 4 that forms an air flow path 4a for air blown into the vehicle interior. The adsorbent chamber 2 is formed with an inflow port 2a for supplying air to the adsorbent 1 in the adsorbent chamber 2 and an outflow port 2b through which the supplied air flows out. 2b is an air flow path 4
It opens in a.

Further, the air conditioning casing 4 is provided with opening / closing doors 3a, 3b for opening / closing both the outlet / inlet ports 2a, 2b.
The sealing material 10 is provided at a portion that comes into contact with b,
The outflow inlets 2a and 2b and the open / close doors 3a and 3b are hermetically sealed. The open / close doors 3a and 3b are driven by a servo motor (not shown).

Reference numeral 5 supplies air to the adsorbent 1 and
The blast air is a blast air that blows heated hot air after adsorbing moisture into the passenger compartment, and the blast air 5 is arranged on the air upstream side of the air flow path 4a. Reference numeral 9 is a negative pressure type booster that reduces the operating force of the vehicle braking device, and 6 is a vacuum pump (air suction device, negative pressure generator) for generating a negative pressure of the negative pressure type booster. The adsorbent chamber 2 communicates with the vacuum pump 6 through a pipe 7, and the air in the adsorbent chamber 2 is sucked by the vacuum pump 6 through the pipe 7. Further, the pipe 7 is provided with an electromagnetic valve (valve device) 8 for controlling opening / closing of the communication state between the adsorbent chamber 2 and the vacuum pump 6. Since the solenoid valve 8 is a so-called normally closed solenoid valve that is closed in a non-energized state, the pipe 7 can be closed even when the vehicle is stopped and the vacuum pump 6 is stopped.

The blower 5, the solenoid valve 8 and the servomotors for driving the doors 3a and 3b are controlled by a control device (not shown).
Predetermined calculation is performed based on the output value of a vehicle interior temperature sensor provided in a vehicle interior (not shown), and the blower 5, the solenoid valve 8 and the servo motor are controlled and driven. Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.

When assisting the heating by utilizing the heat of adsorption (when using an adsorbent), the solenoid valve 8 is closed and both open / close doors 3a and 3b are closed.
And the air blower 5 is operated to supply air into the adsorbent chamber 2. As a result, the heat of adsorption 1 adsorbs moisture to generate heat of adsorption, and the air heated by this heat of adsorption flows through the air conditioning casing 4 and is blown into the vehicle interior. It should be noted that the air supplied to the adsorbent chamber 2 may be either vehicle exterior air or vehicle interior air, but generally vehicle interior air contains more water than vehicle exterior air and is heated outside the vehicle compartment. It is more preferable to supply the air in the vehicle compartment to the adsorbent chamber 2 in order not to let the discharged air escape.

On the other hand, at the time of non-heating assistance (when the adsorbent is not used) such as when the temperature of the air outside the vehicle is high (when the adsorbent is not used), when the adsorption of moisture is completed, or when the adsorbent 1 is regenerated (the moisture adsorbed on the adsorbent 1 is removed). Solenoid valve 8 is opened,
The opening / closing doors 3a and 3b are closed, and the blower 5 is stopped. As a result, the adsorbent chamber 2 is sealed by the opening / closing doors 3a and 3b, and the air in the sealed adsorbent chamber 2 is sucked by the vacuum pump 6. And the adsorbent chamber 2
When the pressure difference between the inside and the outside reaches a predetermined value, the solenoid valve 8 is closed.

Incidentally, in the present embodiment, since the suction capacity of the vacuum pump 6 is known in advance, it is determined whether or not the predetermined pressure difference has been reached. Therefore, a predetermined time has elapsed after the opening / closing doors 3a and 3b were closed. The solenoid valve 8 is closed later. The pressure difference may be determined using a pressure sensor or the like. Next, features of the present embodiment will be described.

As described above, the vacuum pump 6 is used when the opening / closing doors 3a and 3b are closed, such as when the heating assistance is not provided.
Since the air in the adsorbent chamber 2 is sucked by, the internal pressure of the adsorbent chamber 2 becomes lower than the external pressure (atmospheric pressure) of the adsorbent chamber 2. Therefore, the opening / closing doors 3a and 3b have the adsorbent chamber 2
Due to the pressure difference between the inside and the outside, a force acting toward both the outlets 2a and 2b acts. That is, the opening / closing doors 3a and 3b are the two outlets 2
Since it is pressed down by a and 2b, it is possible to improve the hermeticity of both. Further, since it is possible to prevent the progress of moisture adsorption during non-heating assistance, desired heating assistance ability can be exerted during heating assistance.

The internal pressure of the adsorbent chamber 2 is a perfect vacuum (-7
It is not necessary to set the pressure to 60 mmHg), and as described above, the present invention can be implemented as long as a predetermined hermeticity can be secured between the opening / closing doors 3a and 3b and the two outflow ports 2a and 2b. Incidentally, if the solenoid valve 8 is closed before the full vacuum is reached, air remains in the adsorbent chamber 2 and the adsorption of water in the adsorbent 1 proceeds, but the volume of the adsorbent chamber 2 should be selected appropriately. As a result, it is possible to suppress a decrease in the heating assistance capacity due to the progress of the adsorption of moisture in the remaining air.

Further, since the air in the adsorbent chamber 2 is sucked by the vacuum pump 6 and the amount of water in the adsorbent chamber 2 is reduced, it is possible to prevent the progress of moisture adsorption during non-heating assistance. Therefore, the need to regenerate the adsorbent 1 before the heating assistance is reduced, so that it is possible to suppress the use of a heat source such as warm air for regenerating the adsorbent 1 or electricity that drives a heater or the like.

By the way, in this embodiment, the opening / closing door 3a,
The adsorbent chamber 2 when 3b is closed can also be used as an auxiliary tank for a negative pressure tank of a booster (not shown). That is, if a part of the negative pressure in the adsorbent chamber 2 is used, the pressure in the negative pressure tank after the heavy use of the braking device (foot brake) can be quickly reduced. (Second Embodiment) In the first embodiment, the vacuum pump 6 of the booster is used to suck the air in the adsorbent chamber 2, but in the present embodiment, the air in the adsorbent chamber 2 is sucked. The vacuum pump 11 is provided independently of the vacuum pump 6 of the booster. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the vacuum pump 11 is connected to the pipe 7.

According to this embodiment, since the vacuum pump 11 for sucking the air in the adsorbent chamber 2 is provided independently of the vacuum pump 6 of the booster of the braking device, the braking due to the malfunction of the air conditioning auxiliary device is performed. It is possible to prevent malfunction of the booster of the device. Therefore, the sealing performance of the adsorbent chamber 2 can be improved without impairing the reliability of the booster of the braking device.

By the way, the vacuum pump 1 according to the present embodiment.
1 can also be used as an auxiliary pump of the vacuum pump 6 of the booster of the braking device. As a result, the vacuum pump 11 can make up for the lack of capacity and failure of the vacuum pump 6. Therefore, the reliability of the braking device can be improved. Further, since the vacuum pump 11 is provided independently of the vacuum pump 6 of the booster of the braking device, the solenoid valve 8 can be omitted. In this case, the adsorbent chamber 2
In order to maintain the pressure difference between the inside and the outside, the operating state of the vacuum pump 11 is controlled by high or low or ON-OFF control.

(Third Embodiment) In this embodiment, the suction negative pressure of a gasoline engine is used to suck the air in the adsorbent chamber 2. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the intake manifold 12 of the gasoline engine and the pipe 7 are communicated with each other. By the way, seal material 1
0 may be formed integrally with the opening / closing doors 3a and 3b, or may be provided separately or integrally with both the outflow inlets 2a and 2b.

Further, a heater or the like for regenerating the adsorbent 1 may be provided on the air upstream side of the adsorbent 1 in the adsorbent chamber 2 or the air conditioning casing 4. Further, the air conditioning casing 4 of the above-described embodiment may be shared with the air flow path of a normal air conditioner. In this case, it is sufficient that both the inflow and outflow ports 2a and 2b of the adsorbent chamber 2 are in communication with the air passage of the air conditioner, and the adsorbent chamber 2 may be arranged in series or in parallel with respect to the air passage of the air conditioner. But it's okay.

The present invention can also be implemented by providing the adsorbent chamber 2 separately from the air conditioning casing 4 so that the adsorbent chamber 2 can be attached to and detached from the air conditioning casing 4.
Further, the adsorbent chamber 2 is formed so that the air flow in the adsorbent chamber 2 is U-shaped, and the two inlets / outlets 2a and 2b are arranged in parallel, so that two opening / closing doors 3a and 3b are provided. Also, the present invention can be implemented.

Further, instead of the solenoid valve 8, the adsorbent chamber 2
The present invention can also be implemented by using a mechanical valve device that is movable to a pressure difference between the internal pressure and the atmospheric pressure.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... adsorbent, 2 ... adsorbent chamber, 3a, 3b ... opening / closing door, 4
... Air conditioning casing, 4a ... Air flow path, 5 ... Blower, 6 ...
Vacuum pump, 7 ... Pipe, 8 ... Solenoid valve, 9 ... Booster.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An air conditioning auxiliary device for assisting heating of air flowing through an air flow path of an air conditioner, wherein the adsorbent (1) adsorbs moisture in the air to generate heat of adsorption.
An adsorbent chamber (2) for accommodating the adsorbent, and an air inlet (2) formed in the adsorbent chamber (2) and opening on both upstream and downstream sides of an air flow supplied to the adsorbent (1).
a) and an air outlet (2b), an opening / closing door (3a, 3b) for opening and closing the air inlet (2a) and the air outlet (2b), and a pressure lower than atmospheric pressure is generated to suck air. An air suction device (6, 11) is provided between the adsorbent chamber (2) and the air suction device (6, 11), and the air in the adsorbent chamber (2) is sucked by the air suction device ( 6, 11) leading to the air flow path of the air conditioner, and the opening / closing doors (3a, 3b). ) Is closed, the pressure inside the adsorbent chamber (2) is equal to the air suction device (6, 11).
The air inside the adsorbent chamber (2) is sucked into the adsorbent chamber (2) to be lower than the atmospheric pressure. 2. A valve device (8) for opening and closing the communication state of the pipe (7) is arranged in the pipe (7), and when the opening / closing doors (3a, 3b) are closed. The air conditioning auxiliary device according to claim 1, wherein the valve device (8) is closed when the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the adsorbent chamber (2) reaches a predetermined value. 3. A negative pressure generating device (6) for a negative pressure type booster (9), wherein the air conditioning auxiliary device according to claim 2 is mounted on a vehicle, and the air suction device reduces the operating force of a vehicle braking device. ) Is used, the valve device (8) further includes:
When the pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the adsorbent chamber (2) when b) is closed reaches a predetermined value, the closed state is maintained even when the negative pressure generator (6) is stopped. A vehicle air-conditioning auxiliary device.