JPS6343815A - Air conditioner for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily control the oxygen concentration in the car compartment by installing a means for adjusting the temperature of the air supplied into an oxygen concentrating device and maintaining the oxygen concentrating faculty of the oxygen concentrating device to a certain value, in an air conditioner equipped with the oxygen concentrative device. 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. In the above-described air conditioner, a plurality of auxiliary ducts 100 and 200 equipped with opening/closing dampers 100a and 200a are allowed to communicate to the main duct 75, and the opening/ closing dampers 100a and 200a can be driven by the motors 64 and 65, respectively. A sensor 90 for detecting the temperature of the air is installed into the main duct 75, and the result of the detection is input into an air conditioning control unit 500. When the detected temperature is not within a prescribed value range, either of the opening/closing damper 100a or 200a is opened to maintain the air at the prescribed temperature.

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 I (hereinafter simply referred to as air conditioners) have not only conventional air conditioning functions such as heating, cooling, humidification, and dehumidification, but also air conditioning functions that are supplied to the vehicle interior. A device having an oxygen enrichment function that increases the amount of oxygen in the air has been proposed (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-212632).

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, the above-mentioned oxygen enrichment device generally has a characteristic that the degree of nitrogen separation differs depending on the temperature of the air supplied to the device, as shown in FIG. 4, for example. If the temperature of the supplied air is too high than a predetermined value, the separation coefficient decreases and the oxygen concentration in the oxygen-enriched air supplied into the vehicle interior decreases, while the temperature of the supplied air is higher than the predetermined value. If the value is too low, there is a problem that the oxygen permeation rate itself decreases due to a decrease in the oxygen permeability coefficient, and the absolute supply amount of oxygen-enriched air itself decreases.

Therefore, in order to ultimately maintain an appropriate oxygen concentration in the vehicle interior, it is necessary to appropriately maintain the temperature of the air supplied to the oxygen enrichment device within an optimal range.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention was made for the purpose of solving the above problems, and includes an oxygen enrichment device that separates and removes nitrogen from the air to produce oxygen-enriched air. The air conditioner for a vehicle equipped with the oxygen enrichment device is provided with temperature control means for adjusting the temperature of the air supplied to the oxygen enrichment device.

(Function) According to the above means, the temperature control means controls the temperature of the air supplied to the oxygen enrichment device itself within an appropriate predetermined value range. The oxygen enrichment capacity can also be maintained constant. As a result, the oxygen concentration inside the vehicle can be easily controlled.

(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 includes a cooling system device consisting of a compressor 10, a condenser 11, an evaporator 12, etc., which are interconnected by refrigerant piping 14, and a hot water piping (engine cooling A heating system device consisting of a hot water valve 20, a heater core 21, etc., interconnected by a water pipe (connected to a water pipe) 13, a blower unit 30 for outside air intake, an inside/outside air switching motor 31 for outside air ventilation and inside air circulation, A ventilation system device consisting of a ventilation duct 32, etc., and an air conditioning temperature setting device 4
1, 42, an operation system device 40 consisting of various operation switches 43 to 50, a set temperature indicator 51, etc., an air conditioning control unit 500 having various air conditioning control functions formed by a microcomputer, and an outside temperature sensor 51
．． Inside temperature sensor 52, -3 = Water temperature sensor 53, duct inside temperature sensor 54, cabin oxygen sensor 3, various control motors (first and second auxiliary duct opening/closing damper control motors 64, 65, mode switching motor 61
, an air mix damper control motor 62), an oxygen concentrator 70, a vacuum pump 71. It consists 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 in each cooling/heating unit case 6.7 provided below the dash panel, for example, 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 unit case 6 side. Further, on the unit case 7 side, there is a heat duct 15 for heating and a vent duct 16 for ventilation and cooling.
are provided for each. Further, the reference numeral 17 is rotatably attached to one end of the heater core 21 and located in the duct portion 5, so that a passage from the duct side passes through the heater core 21 and a passage bypasses the heater core 21. The air mix damper 17 is provided to selectively form a passage and a branch passage that together form both passages, and the air mix damper 17 is controlled in opening degree by the control motor 62. The actual opening degree is detected by a potentiometer 63, and 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 casing 81 as a partition wall 83.83.
The air intake port 84 side of the hollow casing 81 is connected to the air intake main duct 75 with the blower motor 73 and the air filter 72 interposed therebetween. and the partition wall 83 within the hollow casing 81.
The space on the oxygen permeation side between 83 and 83 is connected to the suction side of the vacuum pump 71 described above from the oxygen extraction lower part through the oxygen extraction duct 77. In addition, the vacuum pump 71
One end of the oxygen supply duct 74 into the vehicle interior is connected to the discharge side of the oxygen supply duct 74 .

The main duct 75 for air intake is also connected to first and second auxiliary ducts 100 and 200 for temperature regulation control, which are located upstream of the air filter 73, respectively. The other end of the first auxiliary duct 100 opens downstream of the evaporator 12 in the cooling unit case 6, and the opening is provided with a first opening/closing damper 100a.

The other end of the second auxiliary duct 200 opens downstream of the heater core 21 of the heating unit case 7, and the opening is provided with a second opening/closing damper 200a. These opening/closing dampers 100a, 200a are driven by first and second opening/closing damper control motors 64, 65, respectively.

The vacuum pump 71 is the compressor 10 of the cooling system.
It is also driven by the engine E of the vehicle.

The vacuum pump 71 has the oxygen enriched membrane 82°82...
This system forms a partial pressure (differential pressure) state between the air supply side interface and the oxygen extraction interface, and also functions to supply permeated oxygen into the vehicle interior.

The oxygen enrichment membranes 82, 82, . . . are non-porous amorphous polymer membranes, and when the vacuum pump 71 is driven, the interface on the permeation side is exposed to a predetermined negative pressure state, while On the other hand,
The interface portion on the air supply side is exposed to a positive pressure state higher than atmospheric pressure due to the air blowing pressure from the blower motor 73 mentioned above. As a result, oxygen molecules mainly permeate from the high pressure side to the low pressure side between the interface parts of the oxygen enrichment membranes 82, 82, . . . in response to a partial pressure difference of a predetermined value or more. 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 algol component is ignored due to its small proportion) are first absorbed by the oxygen enriched 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 film 82 due to the dissolution action further move inside the line film 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.

Gas molecules (Permeability coefficient of gas molecules) (Pressure difference) (Permeation area) (Time) Permeation amount Membrane thickness Therefore, in the case of a specific oxygen enrichment module, the operating conditions of the vacuum pump 71 and blower motor 73 in the above embodiment Assuming that is constant, the amount of permeation of each gas molecule is ultimately determined by the permeability coefficient unique to each gas molecule and the time (time to maintain the permeable state).

The above-mentioned permeability coefficient is, of course, determined by the composition of the above-mentioned oxygen enrichment membrane 82, but for example, in the case of the polycarbonate silicon copolymer of this embodiment, the permeability coefficient of the above-mentioned oxygen molecules is generally determined based on the composition of the oxygen-enriched membrane 82. It is much larger (approximately 3 times) than the permeability coefficient of molecules.

Therefore, the amount of transmission naturally increases. In addition, to explain the relationship between these in more detail, the above transmission coefficient is
It is determined by the product of the solubility coefficient, which determines the size of the above-mentioned dissolution effect, and the diffusion coefficient, which determines the size of the diffusion effect, and the latter diffusion coefficient is determined by the van der Waals diameter (molecular diameter) of the gas molecule. It is known that it will be decided. In the case of the above-mentioned oxygen molecules, first of all, the solubility coefficient is larger than that of nitrogen molecules, while the van der Waals diameter of the molecule is small, so the diffusion coefficient is large. Therefore, the transmission coefficient, which is the product of these, naturally also increases. As a result, the time required for permeation of nitrogen molecules is much longer than that of oxygen molecules, and the air flow rate between the oxygen enrichment membranes 82, 82, etc. is determined based on, for example, the solubility coefficient of oxygen molecules. If the setting is made to obtain an effective permeation time, the oxygen molecules will dissolve first while the nitrogen molecules are hardly dissolved, and the adsorbing nitrogen molecules will be swept away to the discharge lower 8 side. Eventually, only oxygen molecules will be able to pass through. Therefore, according to the oxygen concentrator 70 having such a configuration, the oxygen concentration (%) taken out to the passenger compartment side is basically controlled by the oxygen enrichment membranes 82, 8 as shown in FIG.
2. Air supply side pressure Pi and oxygen extraction side pressure Po
It is determined by the partial pressure ratio (Po/Pi). Therefore, for example, if the drive capacity of the blower motor 73 and vacuum pump 71 is arbitrarily controlled by the air conditioning control unit 500, the absolute amount of oxygen supplied by the oxygen concentrator 70 can be arbitrarily controlled.

In that case, as described above, the oxygen sensor 3 is provided in the vehicle interior, and the oxygen concentration detected by the oxygen sensor 3 and the oxygen concentration in the vehicle interior is inputted to the air conditioning control unit 500. Therefore, it is easy to feedback-control the capacities of the blower motor 73 and vacuum pump 71 so that the detected values are constant.

Further, reference numeral 90 is the main duct 75 for air intake.
It is a temperature sensor installed inside the oxygen concentrator 7.
0 is detected and inputted to the air conditioning control unit 500. If the detected value is not within a predetermined reference value range, the air conditioning control unit 500 drives the control motor 64 or 65 to control the first auxiliary duct 100 or the second auxiliary duct 100 depending on the temperature state at that time. Opening/closing damper 100a or 200 of auxiliary duct 200
While opening either one of a, the compressor lO of the cooling system is driven (at high temperature) or the hot water valve 20 of the heating system is opened to supply engine cooling water to the heater core 21 (
(at low temperatures). As a result, the first auxiliary duct 10
0 is supplied with low-temperature air that has been cooled through the evaporator 12, and high-temperature air that has been heated through the heater core 21 is supplied to the second auxiliary duct 200. Depending on the temperature state of the air, the air is mixed with the air supplied from the air intake main duct 75 at the front stage of the near filter 2, and the temperature of the air as a whole is raised or lowered to a predetermined temperature. It turns out.

Thereby, the temperature of the air supplied to the oxygen concentrator 70 is controlled within a predetermined value range. As a result, the oxygen concentration supplied from the oxygen concentrator 70 into the vehicle interior is always maintained constant. In this case, each introduced amount of the cooling air or heating air is determined by the main duct 75 detected by the temperature sensor 90.
The air conditioning control unit 500 calculates the deviation amount to determine the drive amount (rotation angle) of the control motor 64 or 65, and provides assistance accordingly. The amount of each air introduced is controlled by the amount of opening of the duct opening/closing dampers 100a, 200a.

That is, as already mentioned, the above-mentioned oxygen concentrator 70
As shown in FIG. 4(a), as the temperature of the supplied air increases, the permeability coefficients of both oxygen and nitrogen gas molecules increase, and the amount of permeation of both molecules increases. Therefore, if the air temperature rises beyond the predetermined temperature range, proper separation of nitrogen and oxygen will not be possible just by controlling the partial pressure ratio and permeation time as described above, and the permeation of nitrogen molecules will become impossible. The amount will increase. As a result, the nitrogen separation coefficient is greatly reduced as shown in FIG. 4(b). On the other hand, if the temperature of the air is too low than the predetermined temperature range, the permeability coefficients of both oxygen and nitrogen gas molecules become small, as shown in FIG. It becomes almost impermeable. Therefore, in this case, the fourth
As is clear from Figure (b), although the separation coefficient in the oxygen-enriched membrane increases, the permeation amount of oxygen itself still decreases. Therefore, the oxygen concentration in the vehicle interior eventually decreases in any of the above cases.

However, in the case of this embodiment, the temperature of the air supplied to the oxygen concentrator 70 is controlled within the predetermined temperature range based on the detected value of the temperature sensor 90 in the main duct 75 for air intake, as described above. Therefore, it is possible to maintain the nitrogen separation coefficient of the oxygen concentrator 70 within a constant value range regardless of fluctuations in the outside air temperature, and it becomes possible to prevent fluctuations in the oxygen concentration in the vehicle interior.

In the above embodiment, an oxygen enrichment membrane type oxygen enrichment module was used as the oxygen concentrator 70, but the device is not limited to this.
It is also possible to use a nitrogen adsorption separation type oxygen enrichment module as shown in the figure.

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).
Nitrogen adsorption cylinders 102 and 102 with built-in are first connected to the main duct 75 and auxiliary ducts 100 and 200 for air intake via an electromagnetic on-off valve 103 and an air compressor 107, and then via electromagnetic on-off valves 104 and 105. It is configured to communicate with the oxygen supply duct 74 and the oxygen-enriched air exhaust duct +06, 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, only molecules (nitrogen molecules) that have a high affinity with the 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 temperature of the supplied air is too high as in the first embodiment, the amount of nitrogen adsorption decreases as shown in FIG. However, as a result, the separated concentration of oxygen decreases, so it is necessary to control the temperature of the intake air using a temperature control means. Generally, however, the supply of air into the adsorption column 102 is limited to the partial pressure dust at the nitrogen adsorbent 101 portion. Since air compressed by a compressor is used to increase the temperature, it is almost impossible for the temperature of the supply air to be too low.

Therefore, in the case of this embodiment, as a temperature regulation control means, in principle, it is sufficient to employ only the case of cooling by the first auxiliary duct +00.

Furthermore, in the first and second embodiments, the temperature control means employs a configuration in which cooling or heating is performed by introducing cooling air from the cooler unit side or heating air from the heater core side through an auxiliary duct. As other embodiments, for example, the following configuration may be adopted.

(A) If the air temperature is too high (1) Install an independent cooling means (small evaporator) in the main duct. The cooling means may also be a heat exchanger using cooling water.

(B) When the air temperature is too low (1) Install an independent heating means in the main duct, such as an electric heater or a heater core that uses exhaust heat.

(2) Introduce air from behind the radiator to raise the temperature.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, the present invention provides an air conditioner for a vehicle equipped with an oxygen enrichment device that separates and removes nitrogen from the air to produce oxygen-enriched air. The invention is characterized in that it is provided with a temperature control means for adjusting the temperature of the air supplied to the air.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the temperature of the air supplied to the oxygen enrichment device itself is controlled within a proper predetermined value range by the temperature control means, so that the oxygen enrichment of the oxygen enrichment device is improved. You will be able to maintain your abilities at a constant level. As a result, the oxygen concentration inside the vehicle can be easily controlled.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

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 sectional view of an oxygen concentrator section of a vehicle air conditioner according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 4(a) and (b) are an oxygen enrichment device using an oxygen enrichment membrane. Figure 5 is a graph showing the relationship between the air temperature and the permeability coefficient and separation coefficient, which are the determining factors of oxygen concentration, and the relationship between the air temperature and the amount of nitrogen adsorption, which is the determining factor of oxygen concentration, in a nitrogen adsorption separation type oxygen concentrator. It is a graph showing a relationship. 3...Oxygen sensor 5...Duct 6...Cooling side unit case 7...Heating side unit case lO...Compressor 11...Condenser 12... ... Evaporator 21 ... Heater core 30 ... Prower unit 32 ... Air duct 64 ... First auxiliary duct opening/closing damper control motor 65 ... Second auxiliary duct opening/closing Damper control motor 70, 70'...Oxygen concentrator 71...Vacuum pump 73...Blower motor 74...Oxygen supply duct 75...Air intake main duct 81...Hollow Housing 82...Oxygen enrichment membrane 90...Temperature sensor 100...First auxiliary duct 101...Nitrogen adsorbent 102...Nitrogen adsorption cylinders 103-105...Solenoid opening/closing valve 200 ...Second auxiliary duct

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an air conditioner for a vehicle equipped with an oxygen enrichment device that separates and removes nitrogen from the air to produce oxygen-enriched air, a temperature control means is provided to adjust the temperature of the air supplied to the oxygen enrichment device. A vehicle air conditioning system characterized by: