Vehicle air conditioner and vehicle ventilation system
Contents
1. L NIV 3015110 7014 US 6 949 021 B2 Sheet 2 of 7 Sep 27 2005 U S Patent 6S 8S LS 9G GH a 35013 554 9884 E asas tS S L9 09 330 v9 LS 33 48 Ld SG 29 6 l U S Patent Sep 27 2005 Sheet 3 of 7 US 6 949 021 B2 FIG 3 FIG 4 71 72 U S Patent Sep 27 2005 Sheet 4 of 7 US 6 949 021 B2 FIG 5 R2 U S Patent Sep 27 2005 Sheet 5 of 7 US 6 949 021 B2 FIG 6 START 16 OFF 100 No DISTANCE lt D1 YES 110 o T YES 5120 BATTERY VOLTAGE 12V 130 DETECT TEMPERATURE T R1 IN AREA R1 140 T R1 2 28 5150 PERFORM VENTILATION OPERATION FOR A PERIOD 1 PERFORM FULL AIR CONDITIONING OPERATION FOR A PERIOD 1MIN CALCULATE TAO Dr AND TAO Pa 170 END U S Patent Sep 27 2005 Sheet 6 of 7 US 6 949 021 B2 FIG 7 V s ee gt gt rr A gt FIG 8 5 FOOT B L FACE p lt TAO 0 0 E FIG 9 FRS 100 SW1 96 REC 0 HIGH U S Patent Sep 27 2005 Sheet 7 of 7 US 6 949 021 B2 FIG 10 START 16 OFF 120 BATTERY VOLTAGE 12 072 130 DETECT TEMPERATURE TIR Dr IN AREA R1 5131 3435 3940 4445 TIR Dr C 0 6 949 021 2 1 VEHICLE AIR CONDITIONER AND VEHICLE VENTILATION SYSTEM CROSS REFE2. the air conditioning unit performs the air conditioning control using the power of the battery that is disconnected from the driving source of the vehicle and when the determining means determines that the air conditioning control by the air conditioning unit needs to be started the air conditioning unit performs the air conditioning control for a predetermined time using the power of the battery that is disconnected from the driving source of the vehicle 0 6 949 021 2 15 19 control system according to claim 18 wherein the determining means determines whether a switch for giving permission to supply electric power to the driving source of the vehicle is switched off and whether the air conditioning control needs to be started when the switch is switched off and when the determining means determines that the ventila tion needs to be started when the switch is switched off the ventilating unit performs the ventilation using the power of the battery that is disconnected from the driving source of the vehicle 20 The control system according to claim 18 further comprising 10 16 battery capacity determining means for determining whether capacity of the battery is larger than a prede termined level while the vehicle is stopped and a vehicle generator does not generate and air conditioning starting means for starting the air condi tioning control in the passenger compartment when the battery capacity deter
3. As described above outside air is introduced in the passenger compartment and the ventilation operation is performed by operating each of the servo motors 5 17 18 28 29 38 39 and the electric motor 460 Further when the air condition setting while the vehicle stops is not either the strong or the weak at step S161 either the ventilation operation or the air conditioning opera tion is not performed in the passenger compartment Next advantages of the vehicle air conditioner according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described below 1 The non contact temperature sensors 71 72 are used as the inside air temperature sensors Further based on the infrared rays radiated from each of the driver and passenger seat side areas R1 R2 each of these sensors 71 72 detects a surface temperature in corresponding one of the areas R1 R2 in non contact Therefore it is not necessary to blow air from the passenger compartment to each of the non contact temperature sensors 71 72 in order to detect an air tem perature in the passenger compartment by using each of the sensors 71 72 Thus energy consumption due to air blowing can be reduced while the temperature in the passenger compartment can be accurately detected Accordingly the vehicle air conditioner can accurately determine a timing to start air conditioning by the air conditioning unit 1 while the energy consumption can be effectively prevented T
4. face mode as the driver seat side air outlet mode only the air outlets 21 22 are opened When the foot mode is determined as the driver seat side air outlet mode only the air outlet 23 is opened When the bi level mode is determined as the driver seat side air outlet mode the air outlets 21 23 are opened Then when the face mode is determined as the passenger seat side air outlet mode only the air outlets 31 32 are opened When the foot mode is determined as the passenger seat side air outlet mode only the air outlet 33 is opened When the bi level mode is determined as the passenger seat side air outlet mode the air outlets 31 33 are opened Next the A C ECU 10 averages TAO Dr and TAO Pa calculated above and obtains an average target air tempera ture TAOe by using a formula of TAOe TAO Dr TAO 2 Then based on the TAOe and the characteristic graph in FIG 9 the A C ECU 10 determines a target air flow ratio between an inside air amount introduced from the inside air introduction port 6 and an outside air amount introduced from the outside air introduction port 7 That is the A C ECU 10 determines a target opening degree SW1 target operation position of the inside outside air switching door 3 In FIG 9 when the target opening degree SW1 is 100 FRS only outside air is introduced by the inside outside air switching door 3 To the contrary when the target opening degree SW1 is 0 REC only inside air
5. is introduced by the inside outside air switching door 3 Next the A C ECU 10 determines that a driver seat side A M door opening degree SW Dr 1 opening degree of the driver seat side A M door 15 is 100 Further the A C ECU 10 determines that a passenger seat side A M door opening degree SW Pa ie opening degree of the passenger seat side A M door 16 is 100 Next the A C ECU 10 outputs a signal corresponding to the blower voltage VA to the blower driving circuit 8 Further the A C ECU 10 outputs control signals which correspond to the air outlet mode the SW Dr the SW Pa and the target opening degree of the inside outside air switching door 3 to corresponding one of the servo motors 5 17 18 28 29 38 39 and the electric motor 460 In addition the A C ECU 10 determines a control value motor control signal for controlling the electric motor 460 of the electric compressor 410 based on a temperature detected by the post evaporator temperature sensor 74 The amount of refrigerant flowing into the evaporator 41 is changed by controlling the electric motor 460 of the electric 0 6 949 021 2 9 compressor 410 based the determined motor control value Thus the temperature detected by the post evaporator temperature sensor 74 can be adjusted to a target tempera ture As described above the air condition in the passenger compartment is controlled by the operation of each of the electric motor 460
6. off the ventilating unit performs the ventilation using the power of the battery that is disconnected from the driving source of the vehicle 14 The air conditioner according to claim 9 further comprising battery capacity determining means for determining whether capacity of the battery is larger than a prede termined level and air conditioning starting means for starting the air condi tioning control in the passenger compartment when the battery capacity determining means determines that the capacity of the battery is larger than the predetermined level and the air conditioning determining means deter mines that the air conditioning needs to be started 15 A control system for controlling a vehicle ventilation system the vehicle ventilation system including a ventilat ing unit for ventilating a passenger compartment using power from a battery of the vehicle while the vehicle is stopped in a vehicle state where the battery is disconnected from a driving source of the vehicle and no passenger exists in the vehicle and a non contact temperature sensor for detecting infrared rays radiated from a predetermined area and determining a surface temperature of the predetermined area by non contact based on the detected infrared rays using the power of the battery disconnected from the driving source the control system comprising 10 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 14 determining means for determining
7. part of a refrigerant cycle 400 and evaporates refrigerant which is decompressed and expanded by an expansion valve 440 Further the refrigerant cycle 400 includes an electric compressor 410 a condenser 420 a gas liquid separator 430 the above described expan sion valve 440 and refrigerant piping which connects the above described parts circularly In the refrigerant cycle 400 refrigerant discharged from the electric compressor 410 flows into the condenser 420 to be liquefied and condensed Then the gas liquid separator 430 separates the liquefied and condensed refrigerant from the condenser 420 into gas refrigerant and liquid refrigerant so that only the liquid refrigerant flows downstream Then the expansion valve 440 decompresses and expands the liquid refrigerant from the gas liquid separator 430 In the refrigerant cycle 400 the electric compressor 410 compresses and discharges refrigerant The electric com pressor 410 includes an electric motor 460 and an inverter 470 The electric motor 460 drives the electric compressor 410 For example a three phase induction motor is used as the electric motor 460 The inverter 470 to which a battery B supplies electric power changes a rotation speed of the electric motor 460 according to a driving frequency calcu lated by the A C ECU 10 Accordingly the electric compressor 410 changes the amount of refrigerant discharged from its discharge port to the condenser 420 by changing a rotation
8. should not be started and the determination at step S140 is NO Then when the determination at step 5140 is YES the A C ECU 10 determines whether the air condition setting while the vehicle stops is set to strong by the air outlet mode selecting switch 57 S150 When the air condition setting while the vehicle stops is strong the A C ECU 10 determines whether the terminal voltage of the battery B is larger than 11 5 V or not S160 That is the A C ECU 10 determines again whether the remaining capacity of the battery B is sufficient or not for performing the air conditioning control in the passenger compartment while the vehicle stops If the terminal voltage of the battery B is larger than 11 5 V the A C ECU 10 determines that the remaining capacity of the battery B is sufficient for performing the air conditioning control In this case the A C ECU 10 starts and performs a full automatic air conditioning operation S170 This full automatic air conditioning operation continues for a predetermined period e g 1 min Firstly in the full automatic air conditioning operation the A C ECU 10 calculates a driver seat side target air temperature TAO Dr and a passenger seat side target air temperature TAO Pa Specifically the TAO Dr and TAO Pa are calculated respectively by using a temperature TIR Dr detected by the driver seat side inside air temperature sensor 71 a tempera ture TIR Pa detected by the pa
9. speed of the electric motor 460 Thus a cooling capacity of the evapo rator 41 can be controlled by controlling the amount of refrigerant circulated in the refrigerant cycle 400 that is the amount of refrigerant flowing into the evaporator 41 A driver seat side defroster air outlet 20 a driver seat side center face air outlet 21 a driver seat side side face air outlet 22 and a driver seat side foot air outlet 23 are opened at downstream ends of air ducts connected to a downstream air side of the first air passage 11 FIG 1 Further a passenger seat side defroster air outlet 30 a passenger seat side center face air outlet 31 a passenger 0 6 949 021 2 5 seat side side face air outlet 32 and passenger seat side foot air outlet 33 are opened at downstream ends of air ducts connected to a downstream air side of the second air passage 12 FIG 1 Here the driver and passenger seat side defroster air outlets 20 30 are air outlets for blowing conditioned air mainly warm air to the front windshield at the right and left sides The right and left side side face air outlets 22 32 are air outlets for blowing conditioned air mainly warm air to right and left side windowpanes Then driver and passenger seat side air outlet mode switching doors 24 26 34 36 are provided in the first and second air passage 11 12 The air outlet mode on each of the driver and passenger seat sides can be set independently by using these doors
10. who prefers only ventilation 4 If a distance between the user and the vehicle is smaller than a certain distance D1 and the user comes to the vehicle the vehicle air conditioner determines whether the air conditioning control by the air conditioning unit 1 should be started or not Therefore the air conditioning control is performed only when possibility of approach of the user is high Accordingly energy consumption can be minimized because the air conditioning control is performed only when it is necessary 5 Generally a passenger is especially sensitive to a temperature of a seat when the passenger sits on the seat In the first embodiment each of the inside air temperature sensors 71 72 is the non contact temperature sensor which detects the surface temperature of corresponding one of areas including the driver and passenger seats in non contact Therefore the vehicle air conditioner determines the start operation of the air conditioning control due to the air conditioning unit 1 to be fitted to a passenger s thermal feeling Further the on off control of the ventilation operation of the passenger compartment is performed in the vehicle air conditioner according to the first embodiment of the present invention However for example strong weak control of a ventilating capacity can be also performed in a ventilation system which ventilates a passenger compartment normally Second Embodiment In the above described first em
11. 24 26 34 36 Further these doors 24 26 34 36 are driven by the actuators e g servo motors 28 29 38 39 Here the vehicle air conditioner has a face mode a bi level mode a foot mode and a defroster mode for example as the air outlet mode on the driver seat side and the air outlet mode on the passenger seat side The A C ECU 10 is supplied with DC power from the battery B and performs some control operation such as air conditioning control in the passenger compartment while the vehicle drives and air conditioning control in the passenger compartment while the vehicle stops The control while the vehicle stops will be described below As shown in FIG 1 the A C ECU 10 receives switching signals from operation switches on an air conditioning operation pane 151 inte grally provided in a dashboard 50 Further the A C ECU 10 receives sensor input signals from sensors described below As shown in FIG 2 the air conditioning operation panel 51 has a liquid crystal display 52 an inside outside air selecting switch 53 a front defroster switch 54 a rear defroster defogger switch 55 a DUAL switch 56 an air outlet mode selecting switch 57 an blower air amount setting switch 58 an A C switch 59 an AUTO switch 60 an OFF switch 61 a driver seat side air temperature setting switch 62 a passenger seat side air temperature setting switch 63 and a fuel consumption improving switch 64 etc The air outlet mode selecting switch 57 is used
12. RENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is base on Japanese Patent Application No 2003 46124 filed on Feb 24 2003 the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1 Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle air conditioner and a vehicle ventilation system which are operated while a vehicle stops 2 Description of Related Art An automatic ventilation system for a vehicle which is used while the vehicle stops is proposed in JP A 2000 142089 In this system a temperature sensor is used in order to detect a temperature in a passenger compartment If the detected temperature is higher than a predetermined value a blower is automatically operated and ventilates the pas senger compartment Generally a dashboard is heated by sunlight entering into the passenger compartment for example in the daytime in summer Thus if a thermistor inside the dashboard is used as the temperature sensor the heated dashboard affects a temperature detection of the thermistor because an air tem perature inside the dashboard increases In order to detect a temperature in the passenger com partment correctly it is possible to blow air toward the temperature sensor by a blower whenever the temperature sensor detects a temperature However in this case large energy is consumed because the blower is operated Therefore if the ventilation system ventilates the passenger com
13. United States Patent US006949021B2 12 10 Patent No US 6 949 021 B2 Ichishi et al 45 Date of Patent Sep 27 2005 54 VEHICLE AIR CONDITIONER AND 6 659 358 B2 12 2003 Kamiya et al 236 49 3 VEHICLE VENTILATION SYSTEM 6 698 262 B2 3 2004 Wittwer 70 208 2001 0039806 1 11 2001 Kawai et 62 229 75 Inventors Yoshinori Ichishi Kariya JP Tatsumi FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS Kumada Gamagori JP JP 01167551 7A989 24 11 02 73 Assignee Denso Corporation Kariya JP JP 5 193349 8 1993 10 278564 10 1998 Notice Subject to any disclaimer the term of this JP 2000 142089 5 2000 patent is extended or adjusted under 35 JP 2002 264635 9 2002 U S C 154 b by 0 days cited by examiner Primary Examiner Harold Joyce 21 Appl No 10 779 574 74 Attorney Agent or Firm Harness Dickey amp Pierce 22 Filed Feb 13 2004 PLC 65 Prior Publication Data 57 ABSTRACT US 2004 0185764 1 Sep 23 2004 In a vehicle air conditioner a non contact temperature M c sensor is used as an inside air temperature sensor for 30 Foreign Application Priority Data detecting a temperature in a passenger compartment Based 2003 046124 infrared rays radiated from a predetermined area of the passenger compartment the non contact temperature sensor 51 tities B60H 1 00 detects a surface temperature in the predetermi
14. a includes a rear seat on the right side of the vehicle and the passenger seat side area includes a rear seat on the left side of the vehicle The air conditioning unit 1 can also independently change an air outlet mode in the driver seat side area and the passenger seat side area Further the A C ECU 10 controls each actuator in the air conditioning unit 1 so as to control air conditioning opera tion of the air conditioning unit 1 Specifically the air conditioning unit 1 includes an air duct 2 which is provided on a front side of the passenger compartment An inside outside air switching door 3 and a blower 4 are provided on an upstream air side of the air duct 2 The inside outside air switching door 3 is driven by the actuator e g servo motor 5 and changes an opening degree of each of an inside air introduction port 6 and an outside air introduction port 7 The blower 4 is a centrifugal electrical blower that is driven and rotated by a blower motor 9 controlled by a blower driving circuit 8 In the air duct 2 the blower 4 generates an air flow toward the passenger compartment An evaporator cooling heat exchanger 41 which cools air flowing through the air duct 2 is provided in the air duct 2 downstream of the blower 4 Further a heater core heating 10 15 20 25 30 50 55 60 65 4 heat exchanger 42 is provided in the air duct 2 on a downstream air side of the evaporator 41 The heater core 42 heats a
15. bodiment of the present invention one of the ventilation operation and the air conditioning operation can be selected for setting the air conditioning state while the vehicle stops by the air outlet mode selecting switch 57 To the contrary only the venti lation operation can be performed in a vehicle air condi tioner according to the second embodiment of the present invention In the second embodiment the A C ECU 10 performs air conditioning control operation according to the flowchart in FIG 10 The air conditioning control operation starts when the ignition switch IG is switched off and is repeated at certain intervals e g 60 msec Firstly the A C ECU 10 determines whether the terminal voltage battery voltage of the battery B is larger than 12 V or not S120 When the terminal voltage of the battery B is larger than 12 V the A C ECU 10 receives a driver seat side temperature TIR Dr detected by the driver seat side inside air temperature sensor 71 S130A The blower voltage VA is determined based on the detected temperature TIR Dr 1 temperature detected by the infrared ray sensor at the driver seat side and the characteristic graph shown in FIG 10 That is the blower voltage VA increases stepwisely as 0 6 949 021 2 11 the temperature TIR Dr detected by the driver seat side inside air temperature sensor 71 increases Further the A C ECU 10 determines the target opening degree of the inside outside air swi
16. conditioning unit or a ventilation control by a ventilation unit needs to be started based on a surface temperature detected by a non contact temperature sensor Thus while the vehicle stops the control system accurately determines a timing to start the air conditioning control or the ventilation control of the passenger compart ment while energy consumption can be effectively reduced BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Additional objects and advantages of the present inven tion will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments when taken together with the accompanying drawings in which FIG 1 is a schematic diagram showing an entire system of a vehicle air conditioner according to a first embodiment of the present invention FIG 2 is a front view showing an air conditioning opera tion panel in FIG 1 0 6 949 021 2 3 FIG 3 is a front view showing arrangement of inside air temperature sensors in FIG 1 FIG 4 is a perspective view showing the arrangement of the inside air temperature sensors in FIG 1 FIG 5 is a perspective view showing a detection area of each of the inside air temperature sensors in a passenger compartment FIG 6 is a flowchart showing an air conditioning opera tion of an A C ECU in FIG 1 in the first embodiment of the present invention FIG 7 is a characteristic graph for determining blower voltage in the first embodiment of the present inv
17. e temperature in the predetermined area by non contact based on the detected infrared rays using the power of the battery disconnected from the driving source ventilation determining means for determining whether the ventilation by the ventilating unit needs to be started based on the surface temperature detected by the non contact temperature sensor using the power of the battery disconnected from the driving source and 10 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 12 when the determining means determines that the ventila tion by the ventilating unit needs to be started the ventilating unit performs the ventilation using the power of the battery that is disconnected from the driving source of the vehicle 2 The ventilation system according to claim 1 further comprising reservation means for reserving performance of the ven tilation by the ventilating unit in advance 3 The ventilation system according to claim 1 further comprising distance determining means for determining a distance between a user and the vehicle wherein the distance determining means determines an approach of the user to the vehicle based on the detected distance between the user and the vehicle when the detected distance between the user and the vehicle is smaller than a predetermined value and the ventilation determining means determines whether the ventilation by the ventilating unit needs to be started when the distance determin
18. ensor 74 detects a temperature of air blown immediately from the evaporator 41 The water temperature sensor 75 detects a temperature of engine cooling water 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 6 Here the inside air temperature sensors 71 72 are arranged integrally in the dashboard 50 as shown in FIGS 3 and 4 The driver seat side inside air temperature sensor 71 detects a temperature in an area R1 FIG 5 including a seat surface on the driver seat side in non contact Further the driver seat side inside air temperature sensor 71 has a sensor element which is arranged so that a light receiving surface points to the area R1 The sensor element of the driver seat side inside air temperature sensor 71 outputs an electric signal according to a quantity of infrared rays radiated from the area R1 passenger seat side inside air temperature sensor 72 detects a temperature in an area R2 FIG 5 including a seat surface on the passenger seat side in non contact Further the passenger seat side inside air temperature sensor 72 has sensor element which is arranged so that a light receiving surface points to the area R2 The sensor element of the passenger seat side inside air temperature sensor 72 outputs an electric signal according to a quantity of infrared rays radiated from the area R2 Here each of the inside air temperature sensors 71 72 is a thermo pile type infrared ray sensor Each of the
19. ention FIG 8 is a characteristic graph for determining an air outlet mode in the first embodiment of the present invention FIG 9 is a characteristic graph for determining an open ing degree of an inside outside air switching door in the first embodiment of the present invention and FIG 10 is a flowchart showing an air conditioning opera tion of an A C ECU according to a second embodiment of the present invention DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings First Embodiment The first embodiment of the present invention will be now described with reference to FIGS 1 9 In the first embodiment of the present invention an air conditioner is typically used for performing an conditioning in a passenger compartment of a hybrid vehicle which has both an engine and an electric motor for driving The vehicle air conditioner is an automatic air conditioner which includes an air conditioning unit 1 and an air conditioning electronic control unit A C ECU 10 The air conditioning unit 1 can independently control an air tem perature in a driver seat side area e g right side area in a right steering wheel and an air temperature in a passenger seat side area e g left side area in the right steering wheel Here in the vehicle having the right steering wheel the driver seat side are
20. er F t 5 the A C ECU 10 determines that the user comes to the vehicle and the determination at step S110 is YES Next the A C ECU 10 determines whether a terminal voltage battery voltage of the battery B is larger than 12 V or not S120 That is the A C ECU 10 determines whether capacity of the battery B is sufficient or not for controlling an air condition in the passenger compartment while the vehicle stops that is when a vehicle generator does not generate When the terminal voltage of the battery B is larger than 12 V the A C ECU 10 determines that capacity of the battery B is sufficient Then the A C ECU 10 receives a driver seat side temperature 1 temperature T R1 detected by an infrared ray sensor in the driver seat side area R1 from the driver seat side inside air temperature sensor 71 S130 Next in order to determine a timing to start the air condi tioning control the A C ECU 10 determines whether the detected temperature T R1 is larger than a predetermined temperature 28 C S140 When the detected temperature T R1 is larger than 28 C the A C ECU 10 determines that the air conditioning control needs to be started and the determination at step 5140 is YES That is the A C ECU 10 determines that the present time is the timing to start the air conditioning control Further when the detected tem perature T R1 is smaller than 28 C the A C ECU 10 determines that the air conditioning control
21. for setting the air outlet mode to any one of the face mode the bi level mode the foot mode and the defroster mode according to a user manual operation Further the air outlet mode selecting switch 57 is used for setting an air conditioning state while the vehicle stops according to a user manual operation Here the air conditioning state while the vehicle stops is indicated by a controlling level strong weak no setting of air conditioning in the passenger compartment Further the driver seat side air temperature setting switch 62 is used for setting a temperature in the driver seat side area of the passenger compartment to a desired temperature The passenger seat side air temperature setting switch 63 1 used for setting a temperature in the passenger seat side area of the passenger compartment to a desired temperature The A C ECU 10 is connected with a driver seat side inside air temperature sensor 71 a passenger seat side inside air temperature sensor 72 an outside air temperature sensor 73 and a post evaporator temperature sensor 74 and a water temperature sensor 75 The driver seat side inside air tem perature sensor 71 detects an inside air temperature in the driver seat side area and the passenger seat side inside air temperature sensor 72 detects an inside air temperature in the passenger seat side area The outside air temperature sensor 73 detects an outside air temperature The post evaporator temperature s
22. hus a tempera ture rise can be prevented in the passenger compartment while energy consumption can be reduced 2 In the vehicle air conditioner according to the first embodiment of the present invention the ventilation opera tion is performed in case where the air conditioning while the vehicle stops is set to weak even if the temperature 10 15 20 25 35 40 45 50 55 65 10 detected by the driver seat side inside air temperature sensor 71 is higher than 28 C That is the driver seat side inside air temperature sensor 71 is used for determining whether the ventilation due to the air conditioning unit 1 needs to be started or not that is for determining a timing to start the ventilation operation Accordingly the vehicle air condi tioner can accurately determine the timing to start ventila tion operation due to the air conditioning unit 1 while energy consumption can be reduced 3 The air outlet mode selecting switch 57 is provided to select the controlling level of air condition among the strong the weak the no setting in advance Therefore the air condition in the passenger compartment can be controlled so as to fit a passenger s preference before the user gets on the vehicle Especially if the controlling level of air condition is set to the weak it is possible to reserve the ventilation operation due to the air conditioning unit 1 Therefore it is useful for a user
23. ile the vehicle stops will be described below with reference to FIG 6 The A C ECU 10 performs air conditioning control opera tion according to a flowchart in FIG 6 The air conditioning control operation starts when an ignition switch IG is switched off and is repeated at certain intervals e g 250 msec The ignition switch IG is used for giving permission to supply electric power to a driving equipment such as the engine and the electric motor Firstly the A C ECU 10 determines whether a distance between the user and the vehicle is smaller than a certain distance D1 e g 50 m or not S100 For example the A C ECU 10 determines received power of the returning signal received on the keyless ECU 200 and determines whether the received power is larger than a predetermined power P When the received power is larger than the predetermined power P the A C ECU 10 determines that the distance between the user and the vehicle is smaller than the certain distance D1 and the determination at step 5100 is YES 0 6 949 021 2 7 received power is referred to as F t below and t indicates time multiples of 250 msec Next the A C ECU 10 determines whether the user comes to the vehicle or not S110 For example the A C ECU 10 compares a received power F t at the present time and a received power F t 5 at the time before 5 seconds from the present time When the received power F t is larger than the received pow
24. ing means determines the approach of the user 4 The ventilation system according to claim 1 wherein the non contact temperature sensor detects the surface tem perature in the predetermined area including a seat where no passenger exists in the passenger compartment 5 The ventilation system according to claim 1 wherein the ventilation determining means determines whether a switch for giving permission to supply electric power to the driving source of the vehicle is switched off and whether the ventilation needs to be started when the switch is switched off and when the determining means determines that the ventila tion needs to be started when the switch is switched off the ventilating unit performs the ventilation using the power of the battery that is disconnected from the driving source of the vehicle 6 The ventilation system according to claim 1 further comprising battery capacity determining means for determining whether capacity of the battery is larger than a prede termined level and ventilation starting means for starting the ventilation in the passenger compartment when the battery capacity determining means determines that the capacity of the battery is larger than the predetermined level and the ventilation determining means determines that the ven tilation needs to be started 7 The ventilation system according to claim 1 wherein the ventilating unit performs the ventilation while the driv ing source is sto
25. inside air temperature sensors 71 72 includes a temperature sensor not shown for detecting an absolute temperature of each inside air temperature sensor itself Further a temperature sensing element e g thermistor is used for each of the outside air temperature sensor 73 the post evaporator tem perature sensor 74 and the water temperature sensor 75 Further the A C ECU 10 is connected with a keyless ECU 200 The keyless ECU 200 automatically transmits a trans mitting signal by a radio wave at certain intervals An electronic key 300 transmits a returning signal whenever it receives the transmitting signal from the keyless ECU 200 For example if a user having the electronic key 300 comes to the vehicle to get on the keyless ECU 200 unlocks a vehicle door by using a lock device 210 because the keyless ECU 200 receives the returning signal from the electronic key 300 Further if the user having the electronic key 300 goes away from the vehicle beyond a certain distance the electronic key 300 does not receive the trans mitting signal from the keyless ECU 200 and does not transmit the returning signal to the keyless ECU 200 That is no signal is exchanged between the keyless ECU 200 and the electronic key 300 If this situation continues for a certain period the keyless ECU 200 locks the door Next as an example of operation according to the first embodiment of the present invention an air conditioning control of the A C ECU 10 wh
26. ir flowing therethrough in first and second air pas sages 11 12 by exchanging heat with cooling water hot water of the engine for driving Here the first and second air passages 11 12 are separated by a division plate 14 Further a Peltier element can be also used as the evaporator 41 when the air conditioner is used for a vehicle driven by electric power A driver seat side air mixing door driver seat side A M door 15 and a passenger seat side air mixing door passenger seat side A M door 16 are provided on an upstream air side of the heater core 42 The driver seat side A M door 15 independently controls an air temperature to be blown into the driver seat side area of the passenger compartment and the passenger seat side A M door 16 independently controls an air temperature to be blown into the passenger seat side area of the passenger compartment The driver and passenger seat side A M doors 15 16 are driven by the actuators e g servo motors 17 18 and control a temperature of conditioned air blowing from driver and passenger seat side air outlets to the driver and passenger seat side areas respectively More particularly the temperature of conditioned air blown toward inner surfaces of front windshield on the driver and passenger seat sides are respectively controlled The driver and passenger seat side air outlets will be explained below Here the evaporator 41 according to the first embodiment of the present invention is a
27. mining means determines that the capacity of the battery is larger than the predetermined level and the determining means determines that the air conditioning needs to be started
28. ned area in 52 U S CL 454 75 62 186 165 288 non contact Therefore it is not necessary to blow air from 236 49 3 the passenger compartment to the inside air temperature 58 Field of Search 454 75 236 91 E sensor in order to detect the temperature in the passenger 236 51 49 3 62 186 165 202 288 291 compartment Thus energy consumption can be reduced while the temperature in the passenger compartment can be 56 References Cited accurately detected Accordingly while the vehicle stops U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 6 202 934 B1 6 397 615 B1 6 550 686 B2 3 2001 Kamiya et al 236 91 6 2002 Kawai et al 4 2003 Kawai et al 236 49 3 DETECT TEMPERATURE T R1 IN AREA R1 PERFORM FULL AIR CONDITIONING OPERATION FOR A PERIOD 1MIN CALCULATE TAO Dr AND the vehicle air conditioner can accurately determine whether air conditioning control by an air conditioning unit needs be started while energy consumption can be reduced 20 Claims 7 Drawing Sheets US 6 949 021 B2 Sheet 1 of 7 Sep 27 2005 U S Patent 4 SL vL EL ZL LL 2 0000012 I 01 23 nos ov 006 31 T 82 62 62 8 21 8 6 a 3JIA3d 3901 olz oe e ve H v 6 Aa t z 7 N i te 1 i E ve vESLA 2 301501 I Mil H Ml e de M I 22 LZ LE
29. ned level while the vehicle stops and a vehicle generator does not generate and ventilation starting means for starting the ventilation in the passenger compartment when the battery capacity determining means determines that the capacity of the battery is larger than the predetermined level and the determining means determines that the ventilation needs to be started 18 A control system for controlling a vehicle air conditioner the vehicle air conditioner includes an air conditioning unit for controlling air condition in a passenger compartment using power from a battery of the vehicle while a vehicle is stopped in a vehicle state where the battery is disconnected from a driving source of the vehicle and no passenger exists in the vehicle and a non contact tempera ture sensor for detecting infrared rays radiated from a predetermined area and determining a surface temperature of the predetermined area by non contact based on the detected infrared rays using the power of the battery dis connected from the driving source the control system com prising determining means for determining whether an air con ditioning control by the air conditioning unit needs to be started based on the surface temperature detected by the non contact temperature sensor using the power of the battery disconnected from the driving source and when the determining means determines that the air conditioning control by the air conditioning unit needs to be started
30. ng unit in advance Similarly the air conditioner includes a reservation means which reserves to perform the air conditioning by the air conditioning unit in advance Alternatively the ventilation system or the air conditioner includes a distance determining means for determining a distance between a user and the vehicle In this case the distance determining means determines an approach of the user to the vehicle based on the detected distance between the user and the vehicle when the detected distance between the user and the vehicle is smaller than a predetermined value and the ventilation determining means or the air conditioning determining means determines whether the ventilation by the ventilating unit or the air conditioning by the air conditioning unit needs to be started when the distance determining means determines the approach of the user More preferably in the ventilation system or the air conditioner the non contact temperature sensor detects a surface temperature in the predetermined area including a seat in the passenger compartment in non contact Therefore the ventilation or the air conditioning can be performed to be fitted to the thermal feeling of the passenger According to a further aspect of the present invention a control system for controlling a vehicle air conditioner or a ventilation system while a vehicle is stopped includes a determining means that determines whether an air condi tioning control by an air
31. of the electric compressor 410 and the servo motors Further when the air condition setting while the vehicle stops is not strong determination at step S150 is NO in FIG 6 and is weak determination at step S161 is YES a ventilation operation is performed S162 Further this ventilation operation continues for a predeter mined period e g 1 min In this case the A C ECU 10 determines the target opening degree of the inside outside air switching door 3 so that an inside air amount introduced from the inside air introduction port 6 is 0 full close and an outside air amount introduced from the outside air introduction port 7 is 100 full open That is in the ventilation operation the inside outside air switching door 3 fully closes the inside air introduction port 6 and fully opens the outside air introduction port 7 so that the passenger compartment is ventilated by outside air The A C ECU 10 outputs a control signal corresponding to the determined target opening degree to the servo motor 5 Further the A C ECU 10 outputs a predetermined signal corresponding to the blower voltage VA to the blower driving circuit 8 In addition in the ventilation operation the A C ECU 10 determines the bi level mode as the air outlet mode on each of the driver and passenger seat sides and outputs a control signal corresponding to the determined air outlet mode to the servo motors 17 18 28 29 38 39
32. partment for a long time while the vehicle stops all energy of a battery may be spent SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the foregoing problems it is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle ventilation system which reduces energy consumption and accurately deter mines a timing to start ventilating a passenger compartment while a vehicle stops It is another object of the present invention to provide a vehicle air conditioner which reduces energy consumption and accurately determines a timing to start air conditioning control of a passenger compartment while a vehicle stops According to an aspect of the present invention a vehicle ventilation system includes a ventilating unit a non contact temperature sensor and a ventilation determining means The ventilating unit ventilates a passenger compartment while a vehicle stops The non contact temperature sensor detects infrared rays radiated from a predetermined area of the passenger compartment in non contact and determines a surface temperature of the predetermined area based on the infrared rays The ventilation determining means determines whether a ventilation by the ventilating unit is started based on the surface temperature detected by the non contact temperature sensor Because the non contact temperature sensor is used in the vehicle ventilation system according to the present invention Therefore it is not necessary to blow air from the passenger compartment to
33. pped 8 The ventilation system according to claim 6 wherein the predetermined level is between a first level necessary for vehicle operation and a second level which is full capacity for the battery 9 An air conditioner for a vehicle comprising an air conditioning unit which controls an air condition in a passenger compartment using power from a battery of the vehicle while the vehicle is stopped in a vehicle state where the battery is disconnected from a driving source of the vehicle and no passenger exists in the vehicle a non contact temperature sensor which detects infrared rays radiated from a predetermined area of the passen ger compartment and detects a surface temperature in the predetermined area by non contact based on the detected infrared rays using the power of the battery disconnected from the driving source 0 6 949 021 2 13 air conditioning determining means for determining whether an air conditioning control by the air condi tioning unit needs to be started based on the surface temperature detected by the non contact temperature sensor using the power of the battery disconnected from the driving source and when the determining means determines that the air conditioning control by the air conditioning unit needs to be started the air conditioning unit performs the air conditioning control using the power of the battery that is disconnected from the driving source of the vehicle 10 The air conditione
34. r according to claim 9 further comprising selecting means for selecting a level of the air condition controlled by the air conditioning unit based on the surface temperature and a battery voltage 11 The air conditioner according to claim 9 further comprising distance determining means for detecting a distance between a user and the vehicle wherein the distance determining means determines an approach of the user to the vehicle based on the detected distance between the user and the vehicle when the distance between the user and the vehicle is smaller than a predetermined value and the air conditioning determining means determines whether the air conditioning control by the air condi tioning unit needs to be started when the distance determining means determines the approach of the user 12 The air conditioner according to claim 9 wherein the non contact temperature sensor detects the surface tempera ture in the predetermined area including a seat where no passenger exists in the passenger compartment 13 The ventilation system according to claim 9 wherein the air conditioning determining means determines whether a switch for giving permission to supply electric power to the driving source of the vehicle is switched off and whether the air conditioning control needs to be started when the switch is switched off and when the determining means determines that the ventila tion needs to be started when the switch is switched
35. ssenger seat side inside air temperature sensor 72 a temperature TSET Dr set by the driver seat side air temperature setting switch 62 a tem perature TEST Pa set by the passenger seat side air tem perature setting switch 63 and a temperature TAM detected by the outside air temperature sensor 73 in accordance with the following equations 1 and 2 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 8 TAO Dr KsetxTSET Dr KirxTIR Dr KamxTAM C equation 1 TAO Pa KsetxTSET Pa KirxTIR Pa KamxTAM C equation 2 where Kset temperature setting coefficient e g 7 0 Kir infrared ray coefficient e g 5 1 Kam outside air temperature coefficient e g 1 0 C compensation coefficient e g 45 Next the A C ECU 10 calculates a blower voltage VA which corresponds to air blowing amount of the blower 4 and is applied to the blower motor 9 based on TAO Dr and TAO Pa calculated above Firstly the A C ECU 10 calcu lates blower voltage VA Dr and VA Pa in order to calculate the blower voltage VA Specifically VA Dr and VA Pa are calculated by using TAO Dr and TAO Pa respectively based on the characteristic graph in FIG 7 Then the blower voltage VA is calculated by averaging VA Dr and VA Pa Next the A C ECU 10 determines the air outlet mode on each of the driver and passenger seat sides based on TAO Dr and the characteristic graph in FIG 8 When the A C ECU 10 determines the
36. tching door 3 so that an air amount introduced from the inside air introduction port 6 is 0 full close and an air flow introduced from the outside air introduction port 7 is 100 full open The A C ECU 10 outputs a control signal corresponding to the determined target opening degree to the servo motor 5 In addition the A C ECU 10 determines the bi level mode as the air outlet mode on each of the driver and passenger seat sides and outputs a control signal corresponding to the determined air outlet mode to the servo motors 17 18 28 29 38 39 As described above outside air is introduced in the passenger compartment and the ventilation operation is performed by operating each of the servo motors 5 17 18 28 29 38 39 and the electric motor 460 As described above in the vehicle air conditioner accord ing to the second embodiment of the present invention the blower voltage VA increase stepwisely as the temperature TIR Dr detected by the driver seat side inside air tempera ture sensor 71 increases Accordingly the amount of blown air increases stepwisely as the temperature detected by the driver seat side inside air temperature sensor 71 increases Therefore air condition in the passenger compartment can be finely controlled according to the detected temperature in the passenger compartment Although the present invention has been fully described in connection with the preferred embodiments thereof with reference
37. the non contact temperature sensor when a temperature in the passenger 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 50 55 60 65 2 compartment is detected Thus energy consumption due to air blowing can be prevented while the temperature in the passenger compartment can be accurately detected Accordingly the vehicle ventilation system can accurately determine the timing to start ventilating by the ventilating unit while energy consumption can be reduced According to an another aspect of the present invention an air conditioner for a vehicle includes an air conditioning unit which controls an air condition in a passenger compart ment while the vehicle stops a non contact temperature sensor which detects infrared rays radiated from a predeter mined area of the passenger compartment and detects a surface temperature in the predetermined area in non contact based on the detected infrared rays and an air conditioning determining means which determines whether an air condi tioning control by the air conditioning unit needs to be started based on the surface temperature detected by the non contact temperature sensor Therefore the vehicle air conditioner can accurately determines whether air condi tioning control by the air conditioning unit needs to be started while energy consumption can be reduced Preferably the ventilation system further includes a res ervation means which reserves to perform the ventilation by the ventilati
38. to the accompanying drawings it is to be noted that various changes and modifications will become appar ent to those skilled in the art For example in the above described second embodiment the blower voltage VA can be controlled to increase continuously as the temperature TIR Dr detected by the infrared ray sensor at the driver side increases In the above described embodiments the air outlet mode selecting switch 57 is used as a reservation means for reserving the ventilation operation and a selecting means for selecting an air conditioning level However the other devices can be used as the reservation means and the selecting means Further in the above described embodiments the air conditioning unit 1 corresponds to each of a ventilating unit and an air conditioning unit of the present invention Such changes and modifications are to be understood as being included within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims What is claimed is 1 A ventilation system for a vehicle comprising a ventilating unit which performs a ventilation of a passenger compartment using power from a battery of the vehicle while the vehicle is stopped in a vehicle state where the battery is disconnected from a driving source of the vehicle and no passenger exists in the vehicle a non contact temperature sensor which detects infrared rays radiated from a predetermined area of the passen ger compartment and detects a surfac
39. whether a ventilating by the ventilating unit needs to be started based on the surface temperature detected by the non contact tem perature sensor using the power of the batter discon nected from the driving source and when the determining means determines that the ventila tion by the ventilating unit needs to be started the ventilating unit performs the ventilation using the power of the battery that is disconnected from the driving source of the vehicle and when the determining means determines that the ventila tion by the ventilating unit needs to be started the ventilating unit performs the ventilation for a predeter mined time using the power of the battery that is disconnected from the driving source of the vehicle 16 The control system according to claim 15 wherein the determining means determines whether a switch for giving permission to supply electric power to the driving source of the vehicle is switched off and whether the ventilation needs to be started when the switch is switched off and when the determining means determines that the ventila tion needs to be started when the switch is switched off the ventilating unit performs the ventilation using the power of the battery that is disconnected from the driving source of the vehicle 17 The control system according to claim 15 further comprising battery capacity determining means for determining whether capacity of the battery is larger than a prede termi
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