Disclosure of Invention
In view of this, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved air conditioning system for a vehicle, an improved method of operation for an air conditioning system, an improved computer program product and a corresponding vehicle, which address at least some of the problems of the prior art and/or which overcome other possible drawbacks not mentioned herein.
According to a first aspect of the invention, an air conditioning system for a vehicle is provided, wherein the air conditioning system comprises M first air supply control modules, a first air guiding shell shared by the M first air supply control modules, M first air channels respectively allocated to the M first air supply control modules, M first blowers respectively positioned in the M first air channels, and a first thermodynamic device connected with the M first air supply control modules through the first air guiding shell, wherein the M first air outlets are respectively arranged in M position areas in the vehicle, M is an integer larger than one, the first air guiding shell is shared by the M first air supply control modules, the first air guiding shell forms M first air channels respectively allocated to the M first air channels, the M first blowers are respectively positioned in the M first air channels, and the first thermodynamic device is arranged in a space area defined by the M first air outlets.
According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, the air conditioning system is configured in a distributed architecture and does not have an integral air conditioning cabinet integrating all the components.
According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, the air conditioning system further comprises N second air supply control modules, wherein the N second air supply control modules are respectively provided with N second air outlets for N position areas in the vehicle, N is an integer larger than one, a second air guide shell shared by the N second air supply control modules, the second air guide shell forms N second air channels respectively allocated to the N second air supply control modules, N second blowers respectively positioned in the N second air channels, and a second thermodynamic device connected with the N second air supply control modules through the second air guide shell, and the second thermodynamic device is arranged in a space area defined by the N second air outlets.
According to an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the air conditioning system further includes M first air doors respectively located in the M first air channels, and each first air door is configured to control the air volume and/or the air direction of the associated first air outlet by adjusting the opening degree and/or the angle.
According to an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the air conditioning system further includes N second air doors respectively located in the N second air channels, and each second air door is configured to control the air volume and/or the air direction of the associated second air outlet by adjusting the opening degree and/or the angle.
According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, the first thermodynamic device comprises an evaporator with an expansion valve.
According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, the first thermodynamic device is arranged at the roof of the vehicle.
According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, the first wind guiding housing is arranged at the top of the vehicle.
According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, m=4 and each first air outlet is directed towards the head position of the primary driver, the secondary driver, the right rear passenger and the left rear passenger, respectively, of the vehicle.
According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, the second thermodynamic device comprises a PTC heater.
According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, the second thermodynamic device is arranged at the bottom of the vehicle.
According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, the second wind guiding housing is arranged at the bottom of the vehicle.
According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, n=4 and each second air outlet is directed towards the foot position of the primary driver, the secondary driver, the right rear passenger and the left rear passenger, respectively, of the vehicle.
According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, the air conditioning system further comprises a third air duct formed by the first air guiding shell and/or the second air guiding shell, and an air outlet of the third air duct faces to a front windshield of the vehicle.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an operation method for the air conditioning system provided in the embodiments of the first aspect, wherein the operation method includes the steps of:
s100, acquiring an air conditioner control instruction from an occupant of the vehicle;
S200, determining a position area corresponding to the passenger;
And S300, controlling the air quantity and/or the air direction of an air outlet which is associated with the position area according to the air conditioner control instruction.
According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a computer program product comprising computer program instructions which, when executed by a processor, carry out the steps of the method of operation provided by the embodiments of the second aspect described above.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle comprising an air conditioning system as provided by the embodiments of the first aspect and/or a computer program product as provided by the embodiments of the third aspect.
According to the embodiment of the invention, the plurality of first air supply control modules are respectively arranged for different position areas of the vehicle, the first air channels allocated to the first air supply control modules are formed through the shared first air guide shell, each first air supply control module is provided with the independent first air blower and the first air outlet, personalized air supply control for passengers positioned in different positions in the vehicle can be realized, and meanwhile, the first thermodynamic device is arranged in the space area limited by each first air outlet, so that the length of the first air channels is reduced, the wind resistance and the noise are reduced, and the air supply efficiency is improved. Therefore, personalized requirements of passengers can be met, the system structure can be optimized, the air supply effect is improved, and noise is reduced.
Detailed Description
In order to make the technical problems, technical solutions and advantageous technical effects to be solved by the present invention more apparent, the present invention will be further described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and a plurality of exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention, and that various embodiments may be described in conjunction with the same drawing or drawings, but not all features that appear in the same drawing as what an embodiment must possess.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Fig. 1 shows a schematic side view of a vehicle 3000 according to an embodiment of the invention, fig. 2 shows a schematic top view of a vehicle 3000 according to an embodiment of the invention. As schematically shown in fig. 1 and 2, the vehicle 3000 includes an air conditioning system 1000, which is only schematically shown herein. The air conditioning system 1000 includes M first air supply control modules 100, where M is an integer greater than one. In the embodiment shown in the drawings, M is illustratively four, but it should be understood that M may be other number values greater than one. The M first air supply control modules 100 each have M first air outlets 101 for M location areas in the vehicle 3000, in this embodiment, that is, the four first air supply control modules 100 each have four first air outlets 101 for four location areas in the vehicle 3000, for example, the four first air outlets 101 may be directed toward a primary driver, a secondary driver, a right rear passenger, and a left rear passenger of the vehicle 3000, respectively (see fig. 4 to be described later for this). The air conditioning system 1000 further includes a first air guiding housing 110 common to the M first air supply control modules 100, and as schematically shown in fig. 2 by a broken line, the first air guiding housing 110 forms M first air ducts 10 respectively allocated to the M first air supply control modules 100. The air conditioning system 1000 further includes M first blowers 102 (see also fig. 3 to be described later herein) respectively located in the M first air channels 10 and a first thermodynamic device 120 connected to the M first air supply control modules 100 through a first air guiding housing 110. In this exemplary embodiment, i.e. the first air-guiding housing 110 forms four first air ducts 10, in each of which first air ducts 10a separate first blower 102 is provided, and the four first air ducts 10 are connected to a common first thermodynamic device 120. In another embodiment, which is not shown, the M first air supply control modules 100 may be connected to the M first thermodynamic devices 120 through the first air guiding housing 110, respectively, so as to achieve independent adjustment of the air outlet temperatures. As schematically shown in fig. 2 in combination with fig. 1, the first thermodynamic device 120 is arranged within the spatial area defined by the M first air outlets 101. Thus, compared with the prior art in which the thermodynamic device is disposed at the front or rear of the vehicle, the first thermodynamic device 120 is disposed in the region surrounded by the M first air outlets 101 such that the first thermodynamic device 120 is closer to each of the first air outlets 101, thereby reducing the length of the first air duct 10 for delivering the air conditioned by the first thermodynamic device 120, reducing wind resistance and noise, improving air supply efficiency, and simultaneously avoiding noise problems caused by an excessively high rotational speed of a single blower in the conventional concentrated air conditioning system.
In one embodiment according to the invention, the first thermodynamic device 120 comprises an evaporator with an expansion valve and is arranged at the top 3001 of the vehicle 3000 as shown. The first air guiding housing 110 is preferably also provided at the top 3001 of the vehicle 3000. The air conditioning system 1000 further includes, for example, a compressor 130 and a condenser 140 schematically shown in fig. 1 and refrigerant lines not shown and other necessary components to form a heat pump system together with the first thermodynamic device 120, the cooling principle of which is that the compressor 130 sucks low-pressure low-temperature gaseous refrigerant (for example, R22, R410A, R, etc.), the temperature and pressure of the compressed refrigerant are increased, the high-temperature high-pressure gaseous refrigerant flows into the condenser 140 and releases heat to the external environment in the condenser 140 to form liquid refrigerant, the liquid refrigerant enters an evaporator through an electronic expansion valve, the low-pressure refrigerant absorbs heat inside the vehicle 3000 and evaporates in the evaporator, and finally the low-pressure gaseous refrigerant is sucked in by the compressor 130 and compressed again for the next cycle. in the process, the heat of the passenger cabin is taken away, so that the temperature of the passenger cabin is reduced, and the refrigerating effect is realized. By adopting the reverse circulation refrigeration technology, the heat pump system can achieve the heating effect, and the heating principle is that the compressor 130 sucks low-pressure low-temperature gaseous refrigerant, the temperature and pressure of the compressed refrigerant are increased, the high-temperature high-pressure gaseous refrigerant firstly flows into an evaporator used as an external condenser and releases heat to a passenger cabin, hot air is distributed to the passenger cabin in a blowing mode of a fan for example, the refrigerant is condensed into a high-pressure liquid state, the high-pressure liquid state passes through an expansion valve and then enters a low-pressure low-temperature state, the low-pressure low-temperature refrigerant flows into the condenser 140 used as an internal evaporator and absorbs heat in external air and evaporates, the refrigerant is changed into a low-pressure gas again, and finally the low-pressure gaseous refrigerant is sucked by the compressor 130 and compressed again for the next cycle. in this process, heat is released into the passenger compartment, thereby increasing the temperature of the passenger compartment and realizing a heating effect. For heating the passenger compartment, a warm air core or PTC (Positive Temperature Coefficient) heater may alternatively be used. For this purpose, the air conditioning system 1000 may further comprise N second air supply control modules 200 (see also fig. 3to be described later for this), for example, where N is an integer greater than one. In the embodiment shown in the drawings, N is illustratively four, but it should be understood that N may be other number values greater than one. The N second air supply control modules 200 likewise each have N second air outlets 201 for N location areas in the vehicle 3000, in this example, in each case four second air supply control modules 200 each have four second air outlets 201 for four location areas in the vehicle 3000, for example, the four second air outlets 201 can each be directed toward a primary driver, a secondary driver, a right rear passenger and a left rear passenger of the vehicle 3000 (see also fig. 4 to be described later). The air conditioning system 1000 further includes a second air guiding housing 210 shared by the N second air supply control modules 200, and the second air guiding housing 210 forms N second air ducts 20 respectively allocated to the N second air supply control modules 200. the air conditioning system 1000 further includes N second blowers 202 respectively located in the N second air channels 20 and a second thermodynamic device 220 connected to the N second air supply control modules 200 through a second air guiding housing 210. In this exemplary embodiment, i.e., the second air guiding housing 210 forms four second air channels 20, in each of which second air channels 20 a separate second blower 202 is provided, and the four second air channels 20 are connected to a common second thermodynamic device 220. In another embodiment, which is not shown, the N second air supply control modules 200 may be connected to the N second thermodynamic devices 220 through the second air guiding housing 210, respectively, so as to achieve independent adjustment of the air outlet temperatures. Similar to the first thermodynamic device 120, the second thermodynamic device 220 is preferably arranged within a spatial region defined by the N second air outlets 201. Thus, compared with the prior art in which the thermodynamic device is disposed at the front or rear of the vehicle, the second thermodynamic device 220 is disposed in the region surrounded by the N second air outlets 201 such that the second thermodynamic device 220 is closer to each of the second air outlets 201, thereby reducing the length of the second air duct 20 for delivering the air conditioned by the second thermodynamic device 220, reducing wind resistance and noise, improving air supply efficiency, and simultaneously avoiding noise problems caused by an excessively high rotational speed of a single blower in the conventional concentrated air conditioning system. In one embodiment according to the present invention, the second thermodynamic device 220 includes a PTC heater, and is disposed at the bottom 3002 of the vehicle 3000 as shown in fig. 1. The second air guide case 210 is preferably also provided at the bottom 3002 of the vehicle 3000.
To better describe the air conditioning system 1000 for the vehicle 3000 according to one embodiment of the present invention, fig. 3 shows a schematic structural diagram of the air conditioning system 1000, and fig. 4 shows a schematic interior side view of the vehicle 3000.
As shown in fig. 3 in conjunction with fig. 1 and 2, air conditioning system 1000 is configured in a distributed architecture and does not have an integral air conditioning case that integrates all of the components. Through getting rid of the arrangement restriction of traditional centralized air conditioning case, this kind of distributed structure can make full use of vehicle space, reduces the occupation to passenger space, has avoided the vibration noise problem that resonance between air-blower and the air conditioning case in the traditional air conditioning case led to simultaneously, effectively improves vehicle NVH (Noise, vibration, harshness) performance.
As can be seen from fig. 3, a first air door 103 is disposed in each first air duct 10 formed by the first air guiding housing 110 schematically indicated by a dotted line, and each first air door 103 is configured to control the air volume of the associated first air outlet 101 by adjusting the opening degree thereof. Therefore, by additionally arranging the first air door 103 which is independently adjustable in each first air duct 10, the air quantity of each first air outlet 101 can be independently controlled so as to meet the personalized requirements of passengers at different positions on the blowing intensity. For example, when passengers in a certain area feel that wind force is too large, the opening degree of a throttle of an air outlet in the certain area can be independently adjusted to be small, and the air supply in other areas is not influenced. Compared with the common mode of centralized control or regional control air quantity of the traditional vehicle-mounted air conditioning system, finer air quantity adjustment of a single air outlet can be realized. Preferably, each first damper 103 is further configured to control the wind direction of the associated first air outlet 101 by adjusting its own angle. Thus, by controlling the air outlet angle of each first air outlet 101 through the independently adjustable first air door 103, the air flow to specific parts of the body of the passenger, such as the head, the chest, the abdomen, etc., can be precisely adjusted. Therefore, the individualized requirements of different passengers on the airflow blowing part can be met more accurately, and the problem that the blowing range is not ideal easily in the mode of fixing or integrally adjusting the wind direction of the traditional vehicle-mounted air conditioning system is avoided. Similarly to the effect, a second damper 203 is provided in each of the second air ducts 20 formed by the second air guiding housing 210, also schematically indicated by a broken line, and each of the second dampers 203 is configured to control the air volume of the associated second air outlet 201 by adjusting the opening degree thereof, and more preferably is configured to control the air direction of the associated second air outlet 201 by adjusting the angle thereof. Therefore, by arranging the first air door 103 or the second air door 203 which independently control the air quantity and/or the air direction in each first air duct 10 or each second air duct 20, more accurate air supply control for passengers in different position areas can be realized, and comfort experience of the passengers is improved.
In embodiments not shown in the drawings, a third air duct may be additionally led out from the first air guiding housing 110 and/or the second air guiding housing 210, and an air outlet of the third air duct may be directed toward, for example, a front windshield 3003 of the vehicle 3000. On the one hand, the design can fully utilize the original first air guide shell 110 and/or second air guide shell 210, expand the functions of the air conditioning system 1000 without increasing the cost, and on the other hand, can guide part of cold and hot air to the front windshield 3003 to realize the defrosting and defogging functions of the front windshield 3003, thereby quickly and efficiently recovering the clear view of a driver on a road ahead, improving the driving safety, simplifying the system structure and reducing the energy consumption.
As schematically shown in fig. 4 in conjunction with fig. 3, each first air outlet 101 is located above the head of each occupant of the vehicle 3000, for example, may face the heads of the primary driver, the secondary driver, the right rear occupant, and the left rear occupant, respectively (fig. 4 illustrates only the secondary driver and the occupants behind it by way of example). By providing the first air outlet 101 above the head of the occupant, the occupant can quickly feel the temperature change, and the satisfaction of temperature adjustment can be improved. Meanwhile, the temperature environment around the head has the most direct influence on the comfort of the passengers, and the subjective body feeling of the passengers can be obviously improved by focusing on and independently controlling the air supply of the area. As can also be seen from fig. 4 in combination with fig. 3, each second air outlet 201 is located at a foot position of each occupant of the vehicle 3000, for example, toward the feet of the primary driver, the secondary driver, the right rear occupant, and the left rear occupant, respectively. By aligning the second air outlet 201 with the feet of the occupant, for example, the warm air directly heats the lower limbs of the occupant, thereby rapidly relieving the cold feeling and improving the riding comfort. Particularly in winter, the good foot warming effect can obviously improve the subjective body feeling of passengers. Thus, this arrangement enables precise independent air supply control for each occupant to meet the individual needs of occupants in different locations.
Fig. 5 shows a schematic flow chart of an operation method 2000 for an air conditioning system 1000 according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 5, the operation method 2000 exemplarily includes steps S100, S200, and S300.
In step S100, an air conditioning control instruction from an occupant of the vehicle 3000 is acquired. Each passenger can send out control instructions in various modes such as a vehicle-mounted air conditioner control panel, a voice control system, a mobile phone APP and the like, for example, the air quantity is adjusted, the air supply direction is switched and the like.
In step S200, a location area in which the occupant is located is determined. For example, the seat position of the passenger can be determined according to the specific position of the triggered control panel (for example, the control panel is positioned in front of the corresponding seat), or the seat position of the passenger can be determined by means of a seat pressure sensor, infrared thermal imaging and the like, so as to determine the corresponding air conditioning control area, such as a primary driver area, a secondary driver area and the like.
In step S300, according to the obtained air conditioner control instruction, the air volume and/or the air direction of the air outlet corresponding to the location area are controlled. Specifically, for example, the air volume can be controlled by adjusting the rotational speed of the blower to which the position region is assigned and/or by adjusting the opening of the damper to which the position region is assigned, and the wind direction can be controlled by adjusting the angle of the damper to which the position region is assigned.
Through the operation method 2000, each passenger can independently control the air conditioning state of the area where the passenger is located, so that personalized blowing requirements are met, and mutual interference among different areas is avoided.
Fig. 6 shows a structural framework diagram of a computer system configured to perform the steps of the method 2000 of operation provided in accordance with the above-described embodiments of the present invention, according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 6, the computer system includes a memory 1, a processor 2, a communication interface 3, and a bus 4. The memory 1, the processor 2 and the communication interface 3 are in this case connected to one another by a bus 4. According to one aspect of the invention, a computer program product is also provided, comprising computer program instructions which, when executed by a processor, in particular by the processor 2 of the above-mentioned computer system, carry out the individual steps of the operating method 2000 provided according to the above-mentioned embodiments of the invention.
Although specific embodiments of the invention have been described in detail herein, they are presented for purposes of illustration only and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. Various substitutions, alterations, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.