KR19990030066A - Automotive air conditioning system - Google Patents

Abstract

The passenger compartment air conditioning system 10 of the present invention includes an external heat exchanger 14 for the compressor 12, an expansion mechanism 16 for the external heat exchanger 14, and an internal heat exchanger for the expansion mechanism. 18, a main tube 22 connecting the accumulator 20 to the internal heat exchanger and the compressor to the accumulator to enable fluid flow; A bypass tube 28 connected to the main tube between the compressor and the external heat exchanger and between the expansion mechanism and the internal heat exchanger to enable fluid flow; And a valve 30 disposed in the bypass tube, wherein the valve includes a refrigerant fluid along the main tube such that the refrigerant fluid is returned from the compressor to the compressor through an external heat exchanger, an expansion mechanism, an internal heat exchanger, and an accumulator. It has a closed position for cooling the passenger compartment when it flows in the first direction X, and an open position for heating the passenger compartment when the refrigerant fluid flows in the first direction and passes through the bypass tube and the valve. Have This provides supplemental heating without the use of regulated expansion valves.

Description

Automotive air conditioning system

The present invention relates to an air conditioning system for a passenger compartment of an automobile, and more particularly, to an air conditioning system having supplementary heating performance.

In general, it is known to heat the passenger compartment of an automobile by heat-exchanging with the air flowing into the passenger compartment by circulating the engine coolant through a heater core. WO-A-95 / 24323 discloses a system which utilizes energy supplied to a refrigerant fluid of an air conditioning system by a compressor and provides initial or supplemental heating for exchanging this energy with air passing through the internal heat exchanger of the air conditioning system. . This heating process does not require the use of an external heat exchanger of the air conditioning system, only the vapor components of the compressor, the internal heat exchanger and the refrigerant fluid use an expansion mechanism that is adapted to exit the internal heat exchanger and into the compressor.

Another known supplementary heating system uses the energy of an air conditioning loop called a heat pump. In this case, the internal heat exchanger condenses the refrigerant and exchanges energy with the cooling air passing through the internal heat exchanger. During this operation, the external heat exchanger can be significantly cooled, which freezes the moist components of the air and closes the core of the external heat exchanger, thus preventing effective heat exchange. The thawing of the external heat exchanger can be accomplished by reversing the cycle, which heats the external heat exchanger while cooling the internal heat exchanger, thereby cooling the passenger compartment.

For illustrative purposes, the internal heat exchanger typically refers to a heat exchanger located inside the passenger compartment and the external heat exchanger typically refers to a heat exchanger located outside the passenger compartment.

It is an object of the present invention to provide initial or supplemental heating of a vehicle air conditioning system without the need for an adjusted expansion mechanism.

1 is a schematic diagram of a first embodiment of an air conditioning system according to the present invention;

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a second embodiment of an air conditioning system according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

10,100 ... HVAC System

12 ... compressor

14 ... external heat exchanger

16 ... inflating mechanism

18 ... internal heat exchanger

20 ... accumulator

24 ... control means

28 ... bypass tube

30 ... valves

32 ... check valve

X ... first direction

An air conditioning system for a passenger compartment of a vehicle according to the present invention includes an external heat exchanger for a compressor, an expansion mechanism for the external heat exchanger, an internal heat exchanger for the expansion mechanism, an accumulator for the internal heat exchanger, and a compressor for the accumulator. A main tube for connecting fluid flow; A bypass tube connected to the main tube between the compressor and the external heat exchanger and between the expansion mechanism and the internal heat exchanger to enable fluid flow; And a valve disposed in the bypass tube, wherein the valve includes a first fluid along the main tube to return the refrigerant fluid from the compressor to the compressor through an external heat exchanger, an expansion mechanism, an internal heat exchanger, and an accumulator. And a closed position for cooling the passenger compartment and an open position for heating the passenger compartment, when the refrigerant fluid flows in the first direction and passes through the bypass tube and the valve.

The system of the present invention can provide supplemental heating without the need for an adjusted expansion mechanism. In a preferred arrangement, the air conditioning system can act as a heat pump and also provide a de-icing phase for the external heat exchanger while sufficiently preventing cooling of the passenger compartment.

Referring to FIG. 1, an air conditioning system 10 according to the present invention is used for a vehicle to heat or cool a passenger compartment (not shown) of a vehicle. The air conditioning system 10 includes compressor 12, external heat exchanger 14, orifice tube or expansion device 16, internal heat exchanger 18, and accumulator / dryer 20, which are common components. These components are connected by the main pipe 22 as shown in FIG. 1 to circulate the refrigerant fluid in the X direction. The components of the air conditioning system 10 are provided to cool the passenger compartment in a manner well known to those skilled in the art, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The present invention is provided to supplement or preheat the passenger compartment by slightly modifying known arrangements (eg, when starting a car). Furthermore, the air conditioning system 10 includes a bypass pipe 28 connected to the main pipe 22 between the external heat exchanger 14 and the compressor 12 and between the orifice tube 16 and the internal heat exchanger 18; And a valve 30 disposed in the bypass pipe. The operation of the valve 30 is controlled by the control means 24. The valve 30 has at least two operating positions, an open position to allow fluid to flow through the valve and a closed position to block fluid flow through the valve.

During normal operation of the air conditioning system 10, the valve 30 is in the closed position and the air conditioning system is operated to cool the passenger compartment.

When initial or supplemental heating of the passenger compartment is required, valve 30 is switched to the open position. In this mode, the pressure drop in bypass tube 28 and valve 30 is less than the pressure drop generated in main line 22, external heat exchanger 14, and orifice tube 16. As a result, most of the refrigerant fluid is circulated to pass through only bypass tube 28, internal heat exchanger 18, accumulator / dryer 20 and compressor 12. This arrangement allows the energy contained in the superheated steam from compressor 12 to be transferred to cold ambient air as it flows through the internal heat exchanger 18. The steam then passes through the accumulator / dryer 20 (where no liquid refrigerant component survives) before returning to compressor 12. By this arrangement, the initial or supplemental heating of the passenger compartment takes place.

The air conditioning system 100, which is the second embodiment shown in FIG. 2, is schematically the same as the first embodiment described above, and like parts are given the same numerals. In a second embodiment, the backflow valve 32 is located in the system 100 between the compressor 12 and the external heat exchanger 14 and between the internal heat exchanger 18 and the accumulator / dryer 20. In addition, the valve 30 has an intermediate position between the open position and the closed position to allow limited fluid flow through the valve.

During normal (cooling) operation of the air conditioning system 100, the valve 30 is in the closed position and the backflow valve 32 is set such that the fluid flow is in the direction X so that the air conditioning system cools the passenger compartment. When initial or supplemental heating of the passenger compartment is required and the system 100 is in the air conditioning (cooling) mode, the valve 30 is switched to the open position. This has the same effect as described with respect to the air conditioning system 10 as the first embodiment shown in FIG.

When heating of the passenger compartment is required for a longer time, the backflow valve 32 switches the refrigerant flow through the internal heat exchanger 18, the orifice tube 16 and the external heat exchanger 14 (along direction Y), during which time Valve 30 is in the closed position. However, during this cycle, ice may form on the external heat exchanger 14. In order to (melt) the ice, a backflow valve 32 is operated to switch the air conditioning system 100 to the cooling mode (i.e., the refrigerant fluid flows along the direction X). In this ice state, to prevent cabin cooling (when substantially heating is required), the valve 30 is moved to an intermediate position. In the intermediate position of the valve 30, the refrigerant fluid is allowed to pass through both the main tube 22 and the bypass tube 28 to defrost the external heat exchanger 14 and to sufficiently prevent or limit cooling of the passenger compartment.

Flow reversal means other than the reversible valve 32 may be provided in the air conditioning system according to the present invention, which is a valve 30 having the ability to move to the intermediate position.

In the above embodiments each control means 24 for operating the valve 30 is preferably a contact relay and a manually operable pushbutton which can be located on the instrument panel of the motor vehicle. Optionally, the control means 24 may be a temperature sensor used to automatically control the operation of the valve 30. If the vehicle has automatic climate control, the relay may be controlled by a microprocessor.

Since the present invention does not require additional specific expansion mechanisms, the air conditioning system 10,100 is simpler and cheaper than the arrangement disclosed in WO-A-95 / 24323. In addition, since the accumulator / dryer 20 does not contain excessive liquid, the heating circuit is less sensitive to phase changes in the refrigerant fluid. The system of WO-A-95 / 24323 requires a solenoid valve that is adjustable to prevent refrigerant fluid from reaching the condenser.

Operation of the compressor 12 monitors the fluid flow formed by the compressor to monitor the temperature and / or pressure of the refrigerant fluid on the high pressure side of the compressor and to sufficiently prevent the high torque risk to the compressor and the increase in pressure to the fluid. It may be controlled by an electrical control module (not shown) which controls the operation of the compressor to reduce it.

The system of the present invention has the effect of providing supplemental heating without the need for an adjusted expansion mechanism.

Claims (7)

A main tube connecting fluid to an external heat exchanger in the compressor, an expansion mechanism in the external heat exchanger, an internal heat exchanger in the expansion mechanism, an accumulator in the internal heat exchanger, and a compressor in the accumulator ); A bypass tube connected to the main tube between the compressor and the external heat exchanger and between the expansion mechanism and the internal heat exchanger to enable fluid flow; And a valve disposed in the bypass tube, wherein the valve includes a first fluid along the main tube to return the refrigerant fluid from the compressor to the compressor through an external heat exchanger, an expansion mechanism, an internal heat exchanger, and an accumulator. Vehicle having a closed position for cooling the passenger compartment and having an open position for heating the passenger compartment when the refrigerant fluid flows in the first direction and passes through the bypass tube and the valve. Passenger compartment air conditioning system. The flow for heating the passenger compartment according to claim 1, wherein when the valve is in the closed position, the flow of the refrigerant fluid is reversed in a direction opposite to the first direction and passed through the internal heat exchanger, the expansion mechanism, and the external heat exchanger. An air conditioning system, further comprising reverse flow means. 3. The valve of claim 2, wherein the valve has an additional position that is halfway between the open and closed positions, the valve being configured to flow along the first direction such that the refrigerant fluid heats the external heat exchanger and prevents sufficient cooling of the passenger compartment. Air conditioning system, characterized in that located in the middle position. 4. The flow regulator according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the flow backflow means comprises a backflow valve disposed in the main tube between the compressor and the external heat exchanger and between the internal heat exchanger and the accumulator, and the bypass tube between the backflow valve and the compressor. An air conditioning system, characterized in that the fluid flow is connected to the main tube. The air conditioning system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the operation of the valve is automatically adjusted. 6. The air conditioning system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the operation of the compressor is controlled by an electronics control module. An air conditioning system as shown in the accompanying drawings, which is described by reference.