JPS6343812A - Air conditioner for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the comfortable air conditioning by detecting the oxygen concentration in the car compartment and controlling the oxygen concentration in the car compartment to a prescribed value on the basis of the result of the detection, in an air conditioner for feeding the air containing the enriched oxygen which is formed in the oxygen concentrating membranes into the car compartment. CONSTITUTION:In an oxygen concentrating device 70, oxygen concentrating membranes 82 are laminated between the partitioning walls 83 in a hollow body 81, and the air taking-in port 84 of the hollow body 81 communicates to the main duct 75 for taking in air on which a blower motor 73 and an air filter 72 are installed. The space in the hollow body 81 communicates to the suction side of a vacuum pump 71 through an oxygen taking-out duct 77, and an oxygen feeding duct 74 to the car compartment is connected on the discharge side of the vacuum pump 71. In the above-described air conditioner, an oxygen sensor 3 for detecting the oxygen concentration is installed into the car compartment, and the result of the detection is input into an air conditioning control unit 500. Then, the above-described pump 71 and the motor 73 are controlled so that the result of the detection of the oxygen sensor 3 becomes always constant.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a vehicle air conditioner.

(Prior art) In general, vehicles, especially automobiles, provide a comfortable riding environment for passengers regardless of the climate (especially temperature) and driving conditions, and also prevent fogging and frost on the windows so that the driver can see clearly. Air conditioning equipment is installed to ensure safe and comfortable driving.

By the way, recent air conditioners (hereinafter simply referred to as air conditioners) have not only conventional air conditioning functions such as heating, cooling, heating, and dehumidification, but also have conditioning processing functions that are supplied to the vehicle interior. Products with an oxygen enrichment function that increases the amount of oxygen in the air have been proposed (for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
(Refer to Publication No.-212632).

This air conditioner with an oxygen enrichment function is equipped with an oxygen enrichment device that separates and removes nitrogen from the air to produce oxygen-enriched air, and the oxygen enrichment device separates and removes nitrogen from the air to produce oxygen-enriched air. Enriched air is supplied into the vehicle interior to make the interior air oxygen-enriched, which helps occupants recover from fatigue, prevents drowsiness, and motion sickness, creating a comfortable riding environment.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, if the oxygen enrichment device continues to be driven, the oxygen concentration in the vehicle interior gradually increases because the amount of oxygen consumed within the vehicle interior is limited.

However, since there is a possibility of smoking inside a car, it is not preferable to increase the oxygen concentration too high. Therefore, in a vehicle air conditioner equipped with an oxygen enrichment device as described above,
It is absolutely necessary to be able to control the oxygen concentration within the vehicle interior to a predetermined value.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention was made with the aim of meeting the above-mentioned requirements. An air supply path is provided on one side and an oxygen outlet path is provided on the other side, and the oxygen-enriched air generated by the oxygen enrichment device is supplied into the vehicle interior through the oxygen outlet path. The air conditioner is provided with an oxygen concentration detection means for detecting the oxygen concentration in the vehicle interior, and an oxygen concentration control means for controlling the oxygen concentration in the vehicle interior to a predetermined value based on the detected value of the oxygen concentration detection means. It is something.

(Function) According to the above means, the oxygen concentration control means adjusts the oxygen concentration in the vehicle interior so that the oxygen concentration in the vehicle interior is stabilized at a predetermined value in accordance with the change in the oxygen concentration in the vehicle interior detected by the oxygen concentration detection means. control.

As a result, the oxygen concentration in the vehicle interior is maintained at a predetermined value.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows a vehicle air conditioner according to a first embodiment of the present invention, which is equipped with an oxygen enrichment function.

The air conditioner first consists of a cooling system device consisting of a compressor 10, a condenser (condenser port 1, an evaporator port 2, etc.) connected to each other by a refrigerant pipe 14, and a hot water pipe (engine cooling A heating system device consisting of a hot water valve 20, a heater core 21, etc., mutually connected to the water pipes by a connection port 3, a blower unit 30 for taking in outside air, and an outside air switch for outside air penderation and inside air circulation. Motor 31, ventilation duct 3
A ventilation system device consisting of 2 etc. and an air conditioning temperature setting device 41, 4
2. An operation system device 40 consisting of various operation switches 43 to 50, setting-3 to constant temperature eraser 51, etc.;
An air conditioning control unit 500 having various air conditioning control functions formed by a microcomputer, an outside temperature sensor 51, an inside temperature sensor 52, a water temperature sensor 53, an inside duct temperature sensor 54, an interior oxygen sensor 3, various control motors (mode switching motor) 61, a control system device consisting of an air mix damper control motor 62), and an oxygen concentrator 7
o, vacuum pump 71. It is composed of an air filter 72, a blower motor 73, an oxygen enrichment device including an oxygen supply duct 74 into the vehicle interior, and the like.

The evaporator 12 of the cooling system device and the heater core 21 of the heating system device are installed, for example, in a cooling/heating path unit case 6.7 provided below the dash panel, and are installed in a duct. The respective unit cases 6 and 7 are connected to each other via the portion 5 in a communicating state. A blower duct 32 of the blower unit 30 of the blower system is also connected to the cooling unit case 6 side. Further, on the side of the heating unit case 7, a heat duct 15 for heating and a vent duct 16 for ventilation and cooling are provided, respectively.

Further, reference numeral 17 is rotatably pivotally attached to one end of the heater core 21 and located within the duct portion 5, and includes a passage from the duct side that passes through the heater core 21 and a passage that bypasses the heater core 21. , and a branch passage that together form both of these passages. The degree is potentiometer 63
The detected value is input to the air conditioning control unit 500.

Further, reference numeral 66 is an opening/closing damper for the heat duct 15, and 67 is an opening/closing damper for the defroster 18, and the opening/closing states of these opening/closing dampers 66, 67 are interlocked with each other in inverse proportion to each other. Note that the reference numeral 19 is a radiator.

On the other hand, the oxygen concentrator 70 on the oxygen enrichment device side is
For example, an oxygen enriched film 82 formed of a polycarbonate silicone copolymer is placed inside a hollow housing 81 as a partition wall 83.83.
The air intake port 84 side of the hollow casing 81 is connected to the main duct 75 for air intake in which the blower motor 73 and air filter 72 are interposed. At the same time, the oxygen permeation side space between the partition walls 83 and 83 in the hollow casing 81 is configured to be communicated with the suction side of the vacuum pump 71 from the oxygen extraction lower part through the oxygen extraction duct 77. Further, one end of the oxygen supply duct 74 into the vehicle interior is connected to the discharge side of the vacuum pump 7I.

The vacuum pump 71 is the compressor 10 of the cooling system.
Both engines are driven by the engine E of the vehicle.

The vacuum pump 71 has the oxygen enriched membrane 82°82...
The partial pressure difference (
This system creates a condition (differential pressure) and also functions to supply permeated oxygen into the vehicle interior.

It is a regular polymer membrane, and when the vacuum pump 71 is driven, the interface part on the permeation side is exposed to a predetermined negative pressure state, while the interface part on the air supply side is exposed to the above-mentioned blower motor 73.
It is exposed to positive pressure above atmospheric pressure due to the air blowing pressure. As a result, oxygen molecules mainly permeate between the interfaces of the oxygen enriched membranes 82, 82, . . . from the high pressure side to the low pressure side depending on the predetermined partial pressure difference at that time. This permeation specifically occurs through a combination of dissolution and diffusion.

That is, as is well known, when air comes into contact with the surface of the amorphous polymer membrane, oxygen and nitrogen molecules in the air (note that the argon component is ignored due to its small proportion) are first absorbed by the oxygen-enriching membrane 82. It adsorbs on the surface and then dissolves into the interior of the oxygen-enriched membrane 82 due to molecular movement, resulting in a dissolving action. The oxygen and nitrogen molecules that have entered the oxygen enriched membrane 82 due to the dissolution action further move inside the membrane 82.

That is, a diffusion effect occurs, and the gas eventually desorbs and exits from the permeation side (low pressure side) of the oxygen-enriching membrane 82, and the series of these effects causes a permeation phenomenon of gas molecules as a whole.

In this case, the permeation amount of oxygen and nitrogen gas molecules is expressed by the following equation.

Therefore, for a particular oxygen enrichment module, vacuum pump 71. of the above embodiment. Assuming that the operating conditions of the blower motor 73 are constant, the amount of oxygen molecules that permeate is ultimately determined by the permeability coefficient unique to each gas molecule and the time (time for maintaining the permeable state).

Of course, the above-mentioned permeability coefficient is the composition of the above-mentioned oxygen enrichment film 82?
For example, in the case of the polycarbonate-silicon copolymer of this example,
Generally, the permeability coefficient of oxygen molecules is much larger (approximately three times) than the permeability coefficient of nitrogen molecules.

Therefore, the amount of transmission naturally increases. In addition, to explain the relationship between these in more detail, the above transmission coefficient is
The magnitude of the dissolution effect is determined by the product of the solubility coefficient and the diffusion coefficient, which determines the magnitude of the diffusion effect, and the latter diffusion coefficient is determined by the van der Waals diameter of the gas molecule (molecular It is known that the diameter is determined by In the case of the above oxygen molecule,
While it has a larger solubility coefficient than nitrogen molecules, it also has a larger diffusion coefficient because the van der Waals diameter of the molecule is smaller.

Therefore, the transmission coefficient, which is the product of these, naturally also becomes large.

As a result, the time required for permeation of nitrogen molecules is much longer than that for oxygen molecules, and the oxygen-enriched membrane 82.8
2. If the air flow rate between the two is set so as to obtain an effective permeation time based on the solubility coefficient of oxygen molecules, the oxygen molecules will dissolve first while the nitrogen molecules will hardly dissolve. Since the nitrogen molecules being adsorbed are swept away by the air flow toward the outlet 85, only the oxygen molecules end up being permeated. Therefore, according to the oxygen concentrator 70 having such a configuration, basically the oxygen concentration (%) taken out to the passenger compartment side is as shown in FIG. Air supply side pressure Pi
and the oxygen extraction side pressure PO (Po/Pi).

Therefore, for example, the above-mentioned air conditioning control unit 50
By arbitrarily controlling the blowing pressure by the blower motor 73 or the suction pressure by the vacuum pump 71 at 0, the partial pressure ratio can be changed, and the absolute amount of oxygen supplied by the oxygen concentrator 70 itself can be arbitrarily controlled. become.

For this purpose, the blower motor 73 is provided with a current regulator 91 for arbitrarily adjusting the value of the supply current supplied from the generator 90, for example, and the adjusted value of the current regulator 91 is applied to the air conditioning control unit. 500
The rotational speed of the blower motor 73 is adjusted by controlling the blower motor 73, and the air blowing pressure is controlled.

Further, the vacuum pump 71 is provided with an electromagnetic continuously variable transmission mechanism 92 that allows the diameter of the pulley 93 to be arbitrarily varied, for example, and this continuously variable transmission mechanism 92 is controlled by the air conditioning control unit 500. The rotational speed of the vacuum pump 71 is arbitrarily controlled to make the suction pressure of the vacuum pump 71 variable. Therefore, by controlling either (or both) the blowing pressure of the blower motor 73 or the suction pressure of the vacuum pump 71, the partial pressure ratio between the two selling surfaces of the oxygen enrichment membranes 82, 82, etc. can be arbitrarily changed. It will be done.

In each case, as described above, the oxygen sensor 3 is provided in the vehicle interior, and the oxygen concentration in the vehicle interior detected by the oxygen sensor 3 is input to the air conditioning control unit 500. Therefore, the air conditioning control unit 500 feedback-controls the blowing pressure of the blower motor 73 and the suction pressure of the vacuum pump 71 so that the detected value is always constant.

Therefore, by this control, changes in the oxygen concentration in the vehicle interior are always suppressed within a certain range, and it becomes possible to maintain the oxygen concentration at a predetermined set value.

Next, FIG. 3 shows a vehicle air conditioner according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the above-mentioned oxygen concentrator 70 and vacuum pump 7
The outside air introduction duct 8 is connected to the oxygen derivation duct 77 that connects the
8 are connected to each other, and eight negative pressure control valves each having a relief valve configuration are interposed in the middle of the outside air introduction duct. The negative pressure control valve 89 is formed of, for example, a solenoid valve, and its opening/closing state is controlled by a control signal from the air conditioning control unit 500 in accordance with the detected value of the oxygen sensor 3. By making the suction pressure (negative pressure) of the vacuum pump 7I acting on the oxygen enrichment membranes 82, 82 substantially variable by means of the negative pressure control valve 89, the oxygen enrichment membranes 82, 82, . . . By changing the partial pressure ratio between both selling surfaces, the amount of oxygen produced by the oxygen concentrator 70 is ultimately controlled as in the first embodiment.

With this configuration as well, the oxygen concentration in the vehicle interior can be controlled to a constant level, just as in the first embodiment.

Next, FIG. 4 shows a vehicle air conditioner according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

In the first and second embodiments described above, a configuration was adopted in which the oxygen generation capacity of the oxygen concentrator itself was eventually made variable by varying the partial pressure ratio, so that the amount of generated oxygen was not wasted. However, in the case of such a configuration, a current regulator 91 and a continuously variable transmission mechanism 92 are required, and the structure becomes complicated. In addition, in the case of the second embodiment, such a complicated mechanism is not required, but since a large amount of oxygen once sucked into the vacuum pump 71 side is directly supplied into the vehicle interior,
As a feedback control mechanism, it inevitably lacks responsiveness.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the oxygen concentrator 70 is configured to directly control the amount of oxygen supplied into the vehicle interior at the outlet side of the vacuum pump 71 without changing the oxygen generation capacity itself. be.

That is, in this embodiment, a flow rate control valve 78 constituted by an electromagnetic throttle valve is interposed in the middle of the oxygen supply duct 74 on the discharge side of the vacuum pump 7I, and the flow rate control valve 78 is adjusted to the detected value of the oxygen sensor 3. Accordingly, the air conditioning control unit 500 performs feedback control. Therefore, when the oxygen concentration in the vehicle interior detected by the oxygen sensor 3 is higher than a predetermined set value, the flow rate control valve 78 is throttled to limit the supply of oxygen into the vehicle interior; Then, the flow rate control valve 78 is opened more widely to increase the amount of oxygen supplied into the vehicle interior, and the oxygen concentration in the vehicle interior is controlled so as to finally converge to a predetermined set value.

With this configuration, the amount of oxygen supplied into the vehicle interior is directly controlled at the supply end, and the controlled current range is also large, making concentration control extremely responsive. Since it is sufficient to provide only the flow rate control valve 78 at 74, the structure can be simplified.

In this case, it goes without saying that the flow rate control valve 78 may be configured as a three-way control valve so that surplus oxygen at the time of flow restriction is sent to the engine intake side.

In addition, in each of the first to third embodiments described above, an oxygen enrichment membrane type oxygen enrichment module was used as the oxygen concentrator 70, but the device is not limited to this.
For example, as a fourth embodiment, it is also possible to use a nitrogen adsorption separation type oxygen enrichment module as shown in FIG.

This nitrogen adsorption separation type oxygen concentrator 70' uses a nitrogen adsorbent 101 made of artificial zeolite called, for example, molecular sieves (trade name of Union Carbide Company, USA).
First, the nitrogen adsorption cylinder 102,102 with built-in is connected to the main duct 75 for air intake via the electromagnetic switching valves 103, 103 and the air compressor 107, and then the electromagnetic switching valve 1 is connected to the main duct 75 for air intake.
The oxygen supply duct 74 and the nitrogen-enriched air discharge duct 85 are connected to each other through the oxygen supply ducts 04 and 105, respectively.

The above-mentioned molecular sieves are made of a hydrated metal salt of synthetic crystalline alumino-silicate, and are formed by heating and desorbing a large amount of crystal water contained in the metal salt, and are formed by removing the crystal water. The molecules to be adsorbed are adsorbed on the inner walls of a large number of cavities (cages) of a predetermined diameter formed by a crystal lattice. That is, the crystal lattice is made of polyanine, and in order to electrically neutralize the polyanine, it takes in a specific type of cation to form an electrostatic field with a specific polarity that is strongly acidic or basic. It shows a high affinity for polar molecules. Generally, nitrogen has a higher affinity for the polyanine than oxygen. In order for molecules to be adsorbed to reach the cavity, they must first pass through a plurality of uniform pores connected from the surface into the cavity; Moreover, as mentioned above, only molecules (nitrogen molecules) that have a high affinity with polyanine are adsorbed (molecular sieving effect). On the other hand, oxygen is not adsorbed because it has a lower affinity with the polyanine than nitrogen.

Therefore, when the nitrogen adsorbent 101 is purged at regular intervals, the nitrogen remaining in the adsorbed state is released to the outside from the exhaust port, and only the passed and separated oxygen gas is continuously released from the oxygen take-out port. It can be taken out and supplied into the passenger compartment. Even when such an oxygen concentrator 70' is used, if the oxygen concentration in the vehicle interior is too high or low, as in the first to third embodiments, the oxygen concentration control means Although it is necessary to control the indoor oxygen concentration, the following oxygen concentration control means is adopted in this case as well, in accordance with the first to third embodiments.

(a) The rotational speed of the air compressor 107 that supplies pressurized air for adsorption into the nitrogen adsorption cylinders 102, 102 is arbitrarily controlled by a continuously variable transmission mechanism.

(b) From the air compressor 107 to the nitrogen adsorption column 102,1
The amount of pressurized air supplied into the 02 is controlled by a relief valve.

(c) A flow control valve similar to that in the third embodiment is provided in the middle of the oxygen supply duct 74 to directly control the amount of oxygen supplied into the vehicle interior.

On the other hand, in each of the first to fourth embodiments, the oxygen concentration in the vehicle interior detected by the oxygen sensor 3 is already too high, and the oxygen concentration in the vehicle interior cannot be quickly reduced by controlling the oxygen supply amount reduction alone. In a case where the amount of deviation does not decrease (in a case where the set deviation amount is exceeded upward), the air conditioning control unit 500 automatically drives the blower motor 400 of the blower unit 30 as a fifth embodiment. Control is also employed to ventilate the air in the vehicle interior for a predetermined period of time via the vent duct I6, forcefully and quickly reduce the oxygen concentration in the vehicle interior by introducing outside air, and stop driving the vacuum pump 71. This outside air introduction also applies to each oxygen concentrator 70.70
'Nitrogen-enriched exhaust air may be used.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, the present invention has an air supply path on one side of an oxygen enrichment device that separates nitrogen in the air to produce oxygen-enriched air, and an oxygen outlet path on the other side. In a vehicle air conditioner, the air conditioner is configured to supply oxygen-enriched air generated by the oxygen enrichment device into the vehicle interior through the oxygen outlet path, and an oxygen concentration detection device that detects the oxygen concentration in the vehicle interior. and an oxygen concentration controller for controlling the oxygen concentration in the vehicle interior to a predetermined value based on the detected value of the oxygen concentration detection means.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the oxygen concentration control means controls the oxygen concentration in the vehicle interior so that the oxygen concentration in the vehicle interior is stabilized at a predetermined value in accordance with the change in the oxygen concentration in the vehicle interior detected by the oxygen concentration detection means. conduct. As a result, the oxygen concentration in the vehicle interior is maintained at a predetermined value.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle air conditioner system according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows the relationship between the partial pressure ratio and the oxygen separation concentration of the oxygen concentrator in the same embodiment. graph,
FIG. 3 is a system schematic diagram of a vehicle air conditioner according to a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a system schematic diagram of a vehicle air conditioner according to a third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. , is a system schematic diagram of a vehicle air conditioner according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. 3...Oxygen sensor 30...Prower unit 32...Blower duct 500...Air conditioning control unit 70.70'
... Oxygen concentrator 71 ... Vacuum pump 73 ... Prower motor 74 ... Oxygen supply duct 75 ... Air intake main duct 77 ... Oxygen extraction duct 78 ... Flow rate Control valve 81...Hollow housing 82...Oxygen enrichment membrane 88...Outside air introduction duct 89...Negative pressure control valve '90...
Temperature sensor 91...Current regulator 92...Continuously variable transmission mechanism 101...Nitrogen adsorbent 102...Nitrogen adsorption cylinders 103-105...Opening/closing valve 107...Air compressor

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An air supply path is provided on one side of an oxygen enrichment device that separates nitrogen in the air to produce oxygen-enriched air, and an oxygen outlet path is provided on the other side, and the oxygen enrichment is performed through the oxygen outlet path. In a vehicle air conditioner configured to supply oxygen-enriched air generated by the device into a vehicle interior, there is provided an oxygen concentration detection means for detecting the oxygen concentration in the vehicle interior, and the above-mentioned method based on the detected value of the oxygen concentration detection means. 1. An air conditioning system for a vehicle, comprising: oxygen concentration control means for controlling oxygen concentration in a vehicle interior to a predetermined value.