Car air conditioning equipment with temperature variation system to avoid occupant boredom with constant temperature air

• US 5,190,096 A
• Filed: 12/03/1990
• Issued: 03/02/1993
• Est. Priority Date: 11/11/1987
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toyota Chuo Kenkyusho (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toyota Chuo Kenkyusho (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Taniguchi, Yousuke, Aoki, Hiroshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Ford, John K.
• Application Number:
  US07/620,460
• Time in Patent Office: 820 Days
• Field of Search: 165/12, 165/42, 165/43, 165/30, 165/64, 236/46 R, 236/46 F, 219/202, 237/12.3 R, 237/12.3 A
• US Class Current: 165/202
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/00864 Ventilators and damper doors
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/00878 the components being temperature regulating devices
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/034 from the cooling liquid of the propulsion plant and from an electric heating device
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/2225 arrangements of electric heaters for heating air
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 2001/229 Integration into an air outlet

Abstract

Car air conditioning equipment comprising: an air feeding device for feeding a constant amount of air; air-blow outlets for blowing air with an adjusted temperature into a car interior; an interior temperature detector for detecting a temperature in the car interior; a blown-air temperature detector for detecting a temperature of air blown out from the air outlet; a temperature controlling device for outputting a heating-cooling control signal to control the flow of heating-air and the flow of cooling-air which temporally varies, based on the detected interior temperature and the detected blown-air temperature; and a temperature adjusting device which includes a heating-cooling device for heating and cooling the air from the air feeding device and temporally varying the temperature of the heating-air and the cooling-air, and first mixing device for mixing the heating-air and the cooling-air from the heating-cooling device and supplying the mixed air with the adjusted temperature to the air outlet device. In a second embodiment electric heaters at the outlet vents are used to temporally vary the air temperature to avoid occupant boredom with constant temperature air.

Claims

1. Car air conditioning equipment, which comprises:

an air feeding device having means for feeding air to an interior of a car;

air outlet means for blowing air into said car interior;

a room-temperature detector means for detecting the temperature in said car interior;

a temperature detector means located in said air outlet means for detecting a temperature of air blown out from said air outlet means;

means for cooling air flow fed from said air feeding device to form a flow of cooling-air;

means for heating air flow fed from said air feeding device to form a flow of heating-air;

first air mixing means for mixing the heating-air flow and the cooling-air flow from said heating means and cooling means, respectively, in a chamber and first air path means for supplying the mixed air flow from said chamber to said air outlet means via a first air path;

temperature control means for controlling the first air mixing means based upon at least the detected car interior-temperature and a set point temperature;

at least one second air path means interconnecting said chamber from a location both downstream of said means for heating the air and downstream of said means for cooling the air to said first air path at a location adjacent to said air outlet means;

at least one second air mixing means for controlling the flow of air through said at least one second air path means;

temperature variation control means, operative when the difference between the car interior-temperature and said set point temperature becomes smaller than a predetermined value, for controlling said air feeding device to feed a substantially constant amount of air and for varying the position of said second air mixing means responsive to the detected interior-temperature and the detected blown-air temperature to produce variations of flow through said at least one second air path which, when combined with the flow through the first air path, produce the variation in discharge temperature within an upper limit and lower limit of said set temperature without substantial variation of flow through said air outlet means.