OPERATING A COMFORT SUBSYSTEM FOR A VEHICLE
First Claim
1. An air conditioning system for a cabin of a truck includes vehicle comprising:
- an air conditioning compressor having a drive shaft with a hub that is rotated to operate the air conditioning compressor;
an electrically operated clutch for coupling a first pulley to the drive shaft of the air conditioning compressor in response to control signals, the first pulley rotated by a first belt coupled to a drive engine of the vehicle;
a jackshaft rigidly coupled to the hub of the air conditioning compressor; and
a second pulley rigidly coupled to the jackshaft and driven by an electric motor with a second drive belt.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
According to one form of the invention, an auxiliary system is provided for supplying air conditioning to the cabin of a truck. The system includes an air conditioning compressor having a jackshaft mounted on a hub of the compressor. The system further includes an electric motor connected to the jackshaft by a belt for the motor, wherein the electric motor has a drive shaft and a pulley rigidly secured thereon, i.e., with no clutch and with no provision for slippage of the pulley relative to the drive shaft. The jackshaft has a pulley thereon for the electric motor drive. An end of the jackshaft that is not proximate to the compressor is rotatably held by a bearing and a bearing bracket in order to increase capability of the jackshaft to withstand side loading.
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Citations
69 Claims
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1. An air conditioning system for a cabin of a truck includes vehicle comprising:
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an air conditioning compressor having a drive shaft with a hub that is rotated to operate the air conditioning compressor; an electrically operated clutch for coupling a first pulley to the drive shaft of the air conditioning compressor in response to control signals, the first pulley rotated by a first belt coupled to a drive engine of the vehicle; a jackshaft rigidly coupled to the hub of the air conditioning compressor; and a second pulley rigidly coupled to the jackshaft and driven by an electric motor with a second drive belt. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. An auxiliary system for a vehicle comprising:
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a hydrogen fuel cell receiving a regulated flow of pressurized hydrogen, pressurized air and generating a DC voltage output; a DC to AC converter receiving the DC voltage output and generating 3-phase AC output voltages; an electric motor coupled to the 3-phase AC output voltages and having an output shaft coupled with a drive belt to a jackshaft coupled to a hub of a compressor of an air conditioning system of the vehicle; a controller receiving the DC voltage output and generating a charge voltage for a starter battery of the vehicle and a fan drive voltage; and an auxiliary fan coupled to the fan drive voltage and generating an air stream directed to a condenser for the air conditioning system of the vehicle, wherein the hydrogen fuel cell, a source of pressurized hydrogen, the DC to AC converter, the electric motor and the controller are in a system module. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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23. An air conditioning system for a vehicle comprising:
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a condenser for the air conditioning system normally cooled in response to air flow from fan blades coupled to a drive engine of the vehicle; an auxiliary fan receiving an auxiliary fan voltage and directing an auxiliary air flow to the condenser; a compressor for the air conditioning system having a drive shaft coupled to a first pulley with an electrically operated clutch, the first pulley coupled with a first drive belt to the drive engine of the vehicle; a jackshaft connected to a hub on the drive shaft of the compressor, wherein an end of the jackshaft is rotatably coupled to a bearing attached to a bearing plate; an auxiliary AC electric motor having a drive shaft rigidly coupled to a second pulley, the second pulley coupled with a second drive belt to the jackshaft, wherein the drive engine rotates the compressor and the electric motor when an electric operated clutch is engaged and the electric motor rotates the compressor when the electric operated clutch is disengaged; a fuel cell system receiving pressurized hydrogen and a stream of pressurized air and generating a DC output voltage; a controller receiving the DC output voltage and cabin controls and generating the auxiliary fan voltage and a converter output; a DC to AC converter receiving the converter output and generating an AC voltage for the auxiliary AC electric motor. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26)
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27. A truck comprising:
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a cabin for a driver; a chassis configured to couple to a trailer or a load carrying bed; and an air conditioning system for the cabin of the truck having a condenser for the air conditioning system normally cooled in response to air flow from fan blades coupled to a drive engine of the truck, an auxiliary fan receiving an auxiliary fan voltage and directing an auxiliary air flow to the condenser, a compressor for the air conditioning system having a drive shaft coupled to a first pulley with an electrically operated clutch, the first pulley coupled with a first drive belt to the drive engine of the truck, a jackshaft directly coupled to a hub on the drive shaft of the compressor, wherein an end of the jackshaft is rotatably coupled to a bearing attached to a bearing plate, an auxiliary AC electric motor having a drive shaft rigidly coupled to a second pulley, the second pulley coupled with a second drive belt to the jackshaft, wherein the drive engine rotates the compressor and the electric motor when an electric operated clutch is engaged and the electric motor rotates the compressor when the electric operated clutch is disengaged, a fuel cell system receiving pressurized hydrogen and a stream of pressurized air and generating a DC output voltage, a controller receiving the DC output voltage and cabin controls and generating the auxiliary fan voltage and a converter output, and a DC to AC converter receiving the converter output and generating an AC voltage for the auxiliary AC electric motor. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30)
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31. A method for operating an air conditioning system for a cabin of a vehicle driven by an internal combustion engine (ICE), wherein a compressor of the air conditioning system has a drive shaft with a hub that is rotated to operate the compressor, the drive shaft of the air conditioning compressor coupled to a first pulley with an electrically operated clutch responsive to control signals, the first pulley rotated by a first belt coupled to the ICE, a jackshaft rigidly coupled to the hub of the air conditioning compressor, a second pulley rigidly coupled to the jackshaft, and an electric motor coupled to the second pulley with a second drive belt, the method comprising:
responsive to the control signals, driving the electric motor with an auxiliary power source to operate the air conditioning system when the ICE is off and the electrically operated clutch disengages the first pulley from the drive shaft of the air conditioning compressor. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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52. An air conditioning system comprising:
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an air conditioning compressor having a drive shaft with a hub that is rotated to operate the air conditioning compressor; first means for coupling a first pulley to the drive shaft of the air conditioning compressor, the first pulley rotated by a first belt coupled to an internal combustion engine; and second means for coupling a second pulley to the drive shaft of the air conditioning compressor, the second pulley rotated by a second belt coupled to an electric motor. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
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58. A method for implementing an air conditioning system for a cabin of an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle, wherein a compressor of the air conditioning system has a drive shaft with a hub that is rotated to operate the compressor, the method comprising:
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coupling a first pulley to the drive shaft of the air conditioning compressor with an electrically operated clutch, the first pulley rotated by a first belt coupled to the ICE of the vehicle; rigidly coupling a jackshaft to the hub of the air conditioning compressor; rigidly coupling a second pulley to the jackshaft; and coupling an electric motor to the second pulley with a second drive belt. - View Dependent Claims (59, 60, 61, 62, 63)
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64. An air conditioning system for a cabin of a vehicle comprising:
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an air conditioning compressor having a drive shaft with a hub that is rotated to operate the air conditioning compressor; an electrically operated clutch for coupling a first pulley to the drive shaft of the air conditioning compressor in response to control signals, the first pulley rotated by a first belt coupled to a drive engine of the vehicle; a jackshaft rigidly coupled to the hub of the air conditioning compressor; a second pulley rigidly coupled to the jackshaft and driven by an electric motor with a second drive belt; an auxiliary controller generating the control signals in response to vehicle cabin controls, wherein the electric motor is powered by a fuel cell system generating a fuel cell DC voltage, and wherein the electric motor is a 3-phase AC motor powered by a 3-phase AC voltage; and a DC to AC converter system having an input coupled to an output of the fuel cell system and generating the 3-phase AC voltage for the electric motor in response to control signals from the auxiliary controller.
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65. An air conditioning system for a cabin of a vehicle comprising:
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an air conditioning compressor having a drive shaft with a hub that is rotated to operate the air conditioning compressor; an electrically operated clutch for coupling a first pulley to the drive shaft of the air conditioning compressor in response to control signals, the first pulley rotated by a first belt coupled to a drive engine of the vehicle; a jackshaft rigidly coupled to the hub of the air conditioning compressor; a second pulley rigidly coupled to the jackshaft and driven by an electric motor with a second drive belt; and an auxiliary controller generating the control signals in response to vehicle cabin controls, wherein the electric motor is powered by a fuel cell system generating a fuel cell DC voltage, and wherein a starting battery of the vehicle is charged by the fuel cell system when the starting battery is discharged or is at a low charge state.
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66. A method for operating an air conditioning system for a cabin of a vehicle driven by an internal combustion engine (ICE), wherein a compressor of the air conditioning system has a drive shaft with a hub that is rotated to operate the compressor, the drive shaft of the air conditioning compressor coupled to a first pulley with an electrically operated clutch responsive to control signals, the first pulley rotated by a first belt coupled to the ICE, a jackshaft rigidly coupled to the hub of the air conditioning compressor, a second pulley rigidly coupled to the jackshaft, and an electric motor coupled to the second pulley with a second drive belt, the method comprising:
responsive to the control signals, driving the electric motor with an auxiliary power source to operate the air conditioning system when the ICE is off and the electrically operated clutch disengages the first pulley from the drive shaft of the air conditioning compressor, wherein an end of the jackshaft not coupled to the hub rotatably with a bearing is coupled to a bearing bracket to reduce side loading on the jackshaft from the second drive belt.
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67. A method for operating an air conditioning system for a cabin of a vehicle driven by an internal combustion engine (ICE), wherein a compressor of the air conditioning system has a drive shaft with a hub that is rotated to operate the compressor, the drive shaft of the air conditioning compressor coupled to a first pulley with an electrically operated clutch responsive to control signals, the first pulley rotated by a first belt coupled to the ICE, a jackshaft rigidly coupled to the hub of the air conditioning compressor, a second pulley rigidly coupled to the jackshaft, and an electric motor coupled to the second pulley with a second drive belt, the method comprising:
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responsive to the control signals, driving the electric motor with an auxiliary power source to operate the air conditioning system when the ICE is off and the electrically operated clutch disengages the first pulley from the drive shaft of the air conditioning compressor; generating the control signals with an auxiliary controller in response to cabin controls in the vehicle, wherein the auxiliary controller generates a control signal that signals the clutch to disengage the first pulley from the drive shaft of the air conditioning compressor when the electric motor is powered and driving the jackshaft via the second drive belt, wherein the electric motor is an AC motor; and a DC to AC converter system receiving DC power from the auxiliary power source and generating the AC voltage for driving the AC motor in response to control signals from the auxiliary controller.
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68. A method for operating an air conditioning system for a cabin of a vehicle driven by an internal combustion engine (ICE), wherein a compressor of the air conditioning system has a drive shaft with a hub that is rotated to operate the compressor, the drive shaft of the air conditioning compressor coupled to a first pulley with an electrically operated clutch responsive to control signals, the first pulley rotated by a first belt coupled to the ICE, a jackshaft rigidly coupled to the hub of the air conditioning compressor, a second pulley rigidly coupled to the jackshaft, and an electric motor coupled to the second pulley with a second drive belt, the method comprising:
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responsive to the control signals, driving the electric motor with an auxiliary power source to operate the air conditioning system when the ICE is off and the electrically operated clutch disengages the first pulley from the drive shaft of the air conditioning compressor; generating the control signals with an auxiliary controller in response to cabin controls in the vehicle; and an auxiliary fan for cooling a condenser of the air conditioning system when the ICE is not running, wherein the auxiliary fan is powered in response to the controls signals from the auxiliary controller.
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69. A method for implementing an air conditioning system for a cabin of an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle, wherein a compressor of the air conditioning system has a drive shaft with a hub that is rotated to operate the compressor, the method comprising:
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coupling a first pulley to the drive shaft of the air conditioning compressor with an electrically operated clutch, the first pulley rotated by a first belt coupled to the ICE of the vehicle; rigidly coupling a jackshaft to the hub of the air conditioning compressor; rigidly coupling a second pulley to the jackshaft; coupling an electric motor to the second pulley with a second drive belt; and coupling an end of the jackshaft not coupled to the hub rotatably with a bearing to a bearing bracket to reduce side loading on the jackshaft from the second drive belt.
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Specification