WO2022008985A1

WO2022008985A1 - Vehicle ventilation system

Info

Publication number: WO2022008985A1
Application number: PCT/IB2021/052300
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jung-Tsung Wei
Original assignee: Wei Jung Tsung
Priority date: 2020-07-09
Filing date: 2021-03-19
Publication date: 2022-01-13
Also published as: TW202202357A; CN113910858A; CN212708837U

Abstract

A vehicle ventilation system includes an air duct device (1), a blower (3), a throttle valve device (21), and a cooling device (4). The air duct device (1) includes a main air duct (11) and an auxiliary air duct (12). The main air duct (11) has an outer intake port (111) communicated with the external environment, and an inner intake port (112) and a vent port (113) adapted to be communicated with an internal space of a vehicle. The auxiliary air duct (12) is in communication with the main air duct (11) and is open to the external environment. The throttle valve device (21) is mounted in the main air duct (11), and is convertible between an inner circulation state for closing the outer intake port (111) and an outer circulation state for closing the inner intake port (112).

Description

VEHICLE VENTILATION SYSTEM

FIELD

The disclosure relates to a ventilation system,more particularly to a ventilation system for a vehicle.

BACKGROUND

Air conditionersare currently essential equipments for vehicles having fully closed compartments, and can be used to adjust the temperature inside the compartments of the vehicles. Although the existing vehicle air conditioner has an option of switching between an inner circulation mode and an outer circulation mode, most drivers would usually maintain the inner circulation mode of the vehicle air conditioner, rather than manually switch between the two modes frequently during driving.As a result, after a period of the inner circulation mode, particularly during long-distance driving, the oxygen level inside the vehicle will drop gradually,which may cause driver fatigue problems and prone to a car accident.

SUMMARY

Therefore, the object of the disclosure is to provide a vehicle ventilation system designed toward improvement of at least one of the disadvantages of the prior art.

Accordingly, a vehicle ventilation system is adapted to be mounted in a vehicle, and includes an air duct device, a blower, a throttle valve device, and a cooling device.The air duct device includes a main air duct and an auxiliary air duct. The main air duct is adapted to be disposed on the vehicle, and has an outer intake port communicated with the external environment, and an inner intake port and a vent port adapted to be communicated with an internal space of the vehicle.The auxiliary air duct is in communication with the main air duct, and is open to the external environment. The blower is mounted in the main air duct, and is operable for creating an airflow which flows to the vent port. The throttle valve device is mounted in the main air duct, and is convertible between an inner circulation state for closing the outer intake port and an outer circulation state for closing the inner intake port. The cooling device is mounted in the main air duct between the blower and the vent port for cooling the airflow which flows therethrough to the vent port.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantagesofthe disclosurewill become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

Figure lisa schematic diagram of a first embodiment of the vehicle ventilation system according to the present disclosure, illustrating a throttle valve device in an outer circulation state, an auxiliary throttle valve device at a closed position, and a heating device not being started;

Figure 2 is a diagram similar to Figure 1, but illustrating the throttle valve device in an inner circulation state, the auxiliary throttle valve device at an open position, and the heating device being started;

Figure 3 is a function block diagram of the first embodiment; and

Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a second embodiment of the vehicle ventilation system according to the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before the present disclosure is described in greater detail, it should be noted that where considered appropriate, reference numerals or terminal portions of reference numeralshavebeen repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements, which may optionally have similar characteristics .

As shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3, the first embodiment of the vehicle ventilation system is adapted to be installed in a vehicle (not shown). The vehicle ventilation system includes an air duct device 1, a throttle valve device 21 mounted in the air duct device

1, an auxiliary throttle valve device 22, a blower 3, a cooling device 4, a heating device 5, a filter device 6, a temperature reduction unit 8, a temperature increasing unit 9, and a control device 7.

The air duct device 1 includes a main air duct 11 that is adapted to be disposed on the vehicle, and an auxiliary air duct 12 that is in communication with the main air duct 11 and that is open to the external environment. Themain air duct 11has an outer air intake port 111 communicated with the external environment, an inner air intake port 112 communicated with an internal space of the vehicle, and a vent port 113.

The throttle valve device 21 is mounted in the main air duct 11 and is in signal communication with the control device 7, so that the throttle valve device 21 can be controlled by the control device 7 to convert between an inner circulation state for closing the outer air intake port 111 and opening the inner air intake port 112, and an outer circulation state for closing the inner intake port 112 and opening the outer air intake port 111. The auxiliary throttle valve device 22 is mounted in the auxiliary air duct 12 and is in signal communication with the control device 7, so that the auxiliary throttle valve device 22 can be controlled by the control device 7 to convert between a closed position for closing the auxiliary air duct 12 and an open position for opening the auxiliary air duct 12 and thereby communicating the external environment with the main air duct 11.

The blower 3, the cooling device 4, and the heating device 5 are all mounted in the main air duct 11. The blower 3 can be controlled to startby the control device 7 for creating an airflow which flows through the cooling device 4 and the heating device 5 into the internal space of the vehicle via the vent port 113. In the first embodiment, the auxiliary air duct 12 is connected to a section of the main air duct 11 between the blower 3 and the cooling device 4.The cooling device 4 is operable for absorbing heat energy of the airflow which flows therethrough and lowering the temperature thereof, thereby generating a cool airflow.The heating device 5 is operable for heating the airflow which flows therethrough, and increasing the temperature thereof, thereby generating a warm airflow.There are many types of blower 3, cooling device 4 and heating device 5,which are well-known in the art and not crucial to the present disclosure, so that they will not be described in detail.

When the throttle valve device 21 is in the inner circulation state, the blower 3 will draw the air from the internal space of the vehicle through the inner intake port 112 of the main air duct 11 and create the airflow which flows through the cooling device 4 and the heating device 5 into the internal space of the vehicle. When the throttle valve device 21 is in the outer circulation state,theblower 3will draw air from the external environment along through the outer intake port 111 and create the airflow. In addition, in the situation that the auxiliary throttle valve device 22 is in the open position, the auxiliary air duct 12 is communicated with the external environment,so that the blower 3 will also draw the air from the external environment through the auxiliary air duct 12 and create the airflow in the main air duct 11.

The filter device 6, the temperature reduction unit 8 and the temperature increase unit 9 are mounted in the auxiliary air duct 12. The filter device 6 is disposed for filtration of an airflow flowing toward the main air duct 11. Specifically, the filter device 6 is utilized to filter pollutants carried by the air introduced to the auxiliary air duct 12 from the external environment, such as but not limited to dust, pollen, and bacteria, and so on. The temperature reduction unit 8 is disposed for cooling the airflow flowing toward the main air duct 11. Specifically, the temperature reduction unit 8 is utilized to pre-cool the air drawn from the auxiliary air duct 12. The temperature increase unit 9 is disposed for heating the airflow flowing toward the main air duct 11. Specifically, temperature increase unit 9 is utilized to pre-heat the air drawn from the auxiliary air duct 12. There are many types of the temperature reduction unit 8 and the temperature increase unit 9, such as an evaporator, a thermoelectric cooling chip, and so on, which are well-known in the art, therefore, they will not be described in any further detail. It should be noted that the exemplary examples do not serve as limitations .

The control device 7 is in signal communication with the throttle valve device 21, the auxiliary throttle valve device 22, the blower 3, the cooling device 4, and the heating device 5, the temperature reduction unit 8, and the temperature increasing unit 9. In this embodiment, the control device 7 includes a timer 71, an oxygen sensor 72, a controller unit 73, and a plurality of activating keys 74 arranged in the internal space of the vehicle for operation.The oxygen sensor 72 is adapted to be mounted in the internal space of the vehicle and is in signal communication with the controller unit 73. The controller unit 73 is operable for controlling the oxygen sensor 72 to sense an oxygen level in the internal space of the vehicle and to generate a sensing signal based on sensed oxygen level.

The controller unit 73 is programmed to provide an outer circulation mode 731 and an inner circulation mode 73, and the inner circulation mode 732 is further programmed to provide a continuous ventilation option 733, a timing ventilation option 734, and an low oxygen ventilation option 735. The activating keys 74 are in signal communication with the controller unit 73. By operating corresponding activating keys 74, a user can switch between the outer circulation mode 731 and the inner circulation mode 732,and trigger one of the three abovementioned ventilation options when the inner circulation mode 732 is activated.Once the controller unit 73 triggers one of the three ventilation options, the user can choose to start the cooling device 4 or the heating device 5 by operating a corresponding activating key 74, thereby producing cool airflow or warm airflow inside the vehicle.

When the controller unit 73 triggers the continuous ventilation option 733, the throttle valve device 21 is controlled to switch to the inner circulation state, the auxiliary throttle valve device 22 is controlled to switch to the open position, and the blower 3 is controlled to start.With this configuration, when the vehicle ventilation system is operated, the air will continuously be drawn from the outside of the vehicle through the auxiliary air duct 12 to replenish the oxygen content of the air inside the vehicle.

When the controller unit 73 triggers the timing ventilation option 734, the throttle valve device 21 is controlled to switch to the inner circulation state by the controller unit 73, the auxiliary throttle valve device 22 is controlled to switch to the closed position, and the blower 3 is controlled to start.Concurrently, the timer 71 is controlled by the controller unit 73 to start timing for a fixed period of time, for example, 30 minutes, and the auxiliary throttle valve device 22 is then controlled by the controller unit 73 to switch from the closed position to the open position after the lapse of the fixed period of time and lasts a second period of time, for example, 5 minutes.Afterward, that the auxiliary throttle valve device 22 is controlled to switch to the closed position again, and the timer 71 restarts timing.Through periodically switching the auxiliary throttle valve device 22 to the open position for ventilation, air from the external environment can be introduced periodically to replenish the oxygen content of the air inside the vehicle.

When the controller unit 73 triggers the low oxygen ventilation option 735, the throttle valve device 21 is controlled to switch to the inner circulation state by the controller unit 73, the auxiliary throttle valve device 22 is controlled to switch to the closed position, and the blower 3 is controlled to start.Concurrently, the oxygen sensor 72 is controlled by the controller unit 73 to start. The controller unit 73 will keep on analyzing the oxygen level of the air represented by a sensing signal generated by the oxygen sensor 72,and, upon determining the oxygen level of the air inside the vehicle is lower than a low oxygen threshold, the controller unit 73 will control the auxiliary throttle valve device 22 to switch to the open position. In this way, when the air inside the vehicle has an overly low oxygen level, the outside air can be timely introduced for ventilation, so as to replenish the oxygen content of the air inside the vehicle. In the first embodiment, the auxiliary throttle valve device 22 is controlled to switch to the open position and lasts a period of ventilation time, for example, 10 minutes, and then switched back to the closed position. However, in another variation of implementation, the auxiliary throttle valve device 22 may also be controlled to be in the open position until the analyzed oxygen level of the air inside the vehicle ishigher than a particular threshold, and then the auxiliary throttle valve device 22 is controlled to switch to the closed position.

In addition, the user can set up the controller unit

73 through operating the corresponding activating key

74 such that the temperature reduction unit 8 or the temperature increase unit 9 can start upon switching the auxiliary throttle valve device 22 to the open position, and thereby to pre-cool or pre-heat the air introduced into the auxiliary air duct 12 from the external environment.

When the vehicle ventilation system of the present disclosure is installed on a vehicle, the driver can choose the outer circulation mode 731 or the inner circulation mode 732 according to personal needs through the control device 7. When the inner circulation mode 732 has been chosen, the driver can further choose to trigger one of the continuous ventilation option 733, the timing ventilation option 734, and the low oxygen ventilation option 735, thereby introducing air from outside of the vehicle continuously or intermittently during the inner circulation mode, so as to raise the oxygen level of air inside the vehicle and prevent low oxygen level because of a long period of running the inner circulation mode.

In other variation of the embodiment, the throttle valve device 21 and the auxiliary throttle valve device 22 may also be configured to allow manual control, so that the user can conveniently and manually switch the throttle valve device 21 between the inner circulation state and the outer circulation state, and switch the auxiliary throttle valve device 22 between the open position and the closed position.

Referring to Figure 4, the second embodiment has a configuration similar to that of the first embodiment. The main difference between this embodiment and the previous embodiment resides in the arrangement of the air duct device 1. For the convenience of description, only the differences between this embodiment and the previous embodiment will be set forth herein.

In the second embodiment, the auxiliary air duct 12 is connected to a section of the main air duct 11 between the vent port 113 and the cooling device.Specifically, the auxiliary air duct 12 is disposed between the heating device 5 and the cooling device 4.

In summary, through the construction of the main air duct 11 and the auxiliary air duct 12 of the air duct device 1, and with the throttle valve device 21 and the auxiliary throttle valve device 22 provided in the main air duct 11 and the auxiliary air duct 12 respectively, as well as through the functional operation configuration of the control device 7 such that to switch the throttle valve device 21 to the inner circulation state upon activation of the inner circulation mode 723, the driver may further choose among the continuous ventilation option 733, the timing ventilation option 734, and the low oxygen ventilation option 735 after activation of the inner circulation mode 732, so that the outside air can be introduced into the vehicle continuously or intermittently during the inner circulation mode of the vehicle ventilation system and replenish the oxygen content of the air inside the vehicle, which will help to prevent low oxygen level inside the vehicle because of a long period of running the inner circulation mode.

In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more other embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details. It should also be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number and so forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic may be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be further appreciated that in the description, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of various inventive aspects, and that one or more features or specific details from one embodiment may be practiced together with one or more features or specific details from another embodiment, where appropriate, in the practice of the disclosure.

While the disclosure has been described in connection with what are considered the exemplary embodiments, it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.

Claims

What: is claimed is:

1. A vehicle ventilation system adapted to be mounted in a vehicle, comprising: an air duct device including a main air duct that is adapted to be disposed on said vehicle, and that has an outer intake port communicated with the external environment, and an inner intake port and a vent port adapted to be communicated with an internal space of said vehicle, and an auxiliary air duct that is in communication with said main air duct and that is open to the external environment ; a blower mounted in said main air duct and operable for creating an airflow which flows to said vent port; a throttle valve device mounted in said main air duct and convertible between an inner circulation state for closing said outer intake port and an outer circulation state for closing said inner intake port; and a cooling device mounted in said main air duct between said blower and said vent port for cooling said airflow which flows therethrough to said vent port.

2. The vehicle ventilation system as claimed in Claim 1, further comprising an auxiliary throttle valve device mounted in said auxiliary air duct,and a control device being in signal communication with said auxiliary throttle valve device, said control device including an controller unit that is operable for converting said auxiliary throttle valve device from a closed position for closing said auxiliary air duct to an open position for opening said auxiliary air duct and thereby communicating the external environment with said main air duct.

3. The vehicle ventilation system as claimed in Claim 2, wherein said control device further includes a timer that is in signal communication with said controller unit, said controller unit being operable for controlling said timer to start timing for a first period of time when said auxiliary throttle valve is at said closed position, for converting said auxiliary throttle valve device from said closed position to said open position after lapse of the first period of time, and for maintaining said auxiliary throttle valve device at said open position for a second period of time.

4. The vehicle ventilation system as claimed in Claim 2, wherein said control device further includes an oxygen sensor that is adapted to be mounted in said internal space of said vehicle and that is in signal communication with said controller unit, said controller unit being operable for controlling said oxygen sensor to sense an oxygen level in the internal space of said vehicle and to generate a sensing signal based on the sensed oxygen level,and for switching said auxiliary throttle valve device from said closed position to said open position upon determining an oxygen level lower than a low oxygen threshold.

5. The vehicle ventilation system as claimed in any one of Claims 2 to 4, wherein said control devicefurther includes an activating key that is in signal communication with said controller unit and that is operable for activating said controller unit.

6. The vehicle ventilation system as claimed in any one of Claims 2 to 4,wherein said control device is further in signal communication with said throttle valve device for controlling said auxiliary throttle valve device to switch to said open position when controlling said throttle valve device to switch to said inner circulation state.

7. The vehicle ventilation system as claimed in Claim 6, wherein said control device further includes an activating key in signal communication with said controller unit, and operable for activating said controller unit to control said auxiliary throttle valve device to switch to said open position when controlling said throttle valve device to switch to said inner circulation state.

8. The vehicle ventilation system as claimed in Claim 1, further comprising a filter device mounted in said auxiliary air duct for filtration of an airflow flowing toward said main air duct.

9. The vehicle ventilation system as claimed in Claim I, further comprising a temperature reduction unit mounted in said auxiliary air duct for cooling an airflow flowing toward said main air duct.

10. The vehicle ventilation system as claimed in Claim 9, wherein said auxiliary air duct is connected to a section of said main air duct between said vent port and said cooling device.

II. The vehicle ventilation system as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said auxiliary air duct is connected to a section of said main air duct between said cooling device and said blower.

12. The vehicle ventilation system as claimed in Claim

11, further comprising a temperature reduction unit mounted in said auxiliary air duct for cooling an airflow flowing toward said main air duct.

13. The vehicle ventilation system as claimed in Claim 1, further comprising a temperature increasing unit mounted in said auxiliary air duct for heating an airflow flowing toward said main air duct.