Car air conditioner with heat storage tank for cooling energy
First Claim
1. An apparatus for controlling the temperature in the interior of a vehicle, comprising an air duct communicating at one end with the interior of the vehicle for supplying air thereto;
- cooling means for cooling air flowing through said air duct, said cooling means including a cooler disposed in said air duct;
a heat exchanger disposed in said air duct adjacent said cooler;
a tank having therein a fluid capable of storing thermal energy;
first means for selectively transferring thermal energy between said heat exchanger and said tank, said first means including second means for transferring cooling energy from said heat exchanger to said tank when the fluid temperature in said tank is greater than the air temperature in said air duct near said cooler and the temperature of the interior of the vehicle is less than a first predetermined value, and third means for transferring cooling energy from said tank to said heat exchanger when the fluid temperature in said tank is less than the air temperature in said air duct near said cooler and the speed of an engine of the vehicle is less than a predetermined speed; and
a housing provided in said air duct and having in an interior thereof a partition wall which divides the interior of said housing into separate first and second portions which respectively serve as said cooler and said heat exchanger, wherein said partition wall is capable of conducting thermal energy and thermal energy passes between said cooler and said heat exchanger through said wall.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An air conditioner for vehicle includes a cooler cooled in a cooling circuit which includes a compressor, a heat exchanger located in the vicinity of the cooler, a thermal storage tank connected with the heat exchanger via a heat transfer passage, a pump provided in said heat transfer passage, a first temperature sensor for detecting the temperature TO in close proximity to of the cooler, a second temperature sensor for detecting the temperature TC of the storage tank, and a third sensor for detecting the temperature TR in the car interior, and a heat transfer type partition wall can be integrally provided between a cooling flowing passage of the cooler and a fluid passage of the heat exchanger. The air conditioner for the vehicle serves to cause said pump to be operated to permit cooling energy to be stored when TC is greater then TO and TR is lower than a set value, and to cause said pump to be operated to permit said cooling energy to be radiated when TR is higher than the set value. Cooling energy can be effectively transferred to the heat exchanger via the heat transfer type partition wall. When the temperature in a car is raised to that higher than a set value, the heat stored in storage tank can be radiated to lower the temperature in the car interior.
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Citations
8 Claims
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1. An apparatus for controlling the temperature in the interior of a vehicle, comprising an air duct communicating at one end with the interior of the vehicle for supplying air thereto;
- cooling means for cooling air flowing through said air duct, said cooling means including a cooler disposed in said air duct;
a heat exchanger disposed in said air duct adjacent said cooler;
a tank having therein a fluid capable of storing thermal energy;
first means for selectively transferring thermal energy between said heat exchanger and said tank, said first means including second means for transferring cooling energy from said heat exchanger to said tank when the fluid temperature in said tank is greater than the air temperature in said air duct near said cooler and the temperature of the interior of the vehicle is less than a first predetermined value, and third means for transferring cooling energy from said tank to said heat exchanger when the fluid temperature in said tank is less than the air temperature in said air duct near said cooler and the speed of an engine of the vehicle is less than a predetermined speed; and
a housing provided in said air duct and having in an interior thereof a partition wall which divides the interior of said housing into separate first and second portions which respectively serve as said cooler and said heat exchanger, wherein said partition wall is capable of conducting thermal energy and thermal energy passes between said cooler and said heat exchanger through said wall. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
- cooling means for cooling air flowing through said air duct, said cooling means including a cooler disposed in said air duct;
Specification