Air-conditioner for automobiles

• US 5,244,035 A
• Filed: 01/14/1991
• Issued: 09/14/1993
• Est. Priority Date: 01/24/1990
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation, Zexel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation, Zexel Corporation
• Inventors: Iida, Katsumi, Yamaguchi, Hideo, Takano, Akihiko, Sakurai, Yoshihiko, Yano, Teruaki
• Primary Examiner(s): Ford, John K.
• Application Number:
  US07/640,631
• Time in Patent Office: 974 Days
• Field of Search: 165/16, 165/22, 165/42, 165/43, 98/2.01, 98/2.11, 237/2 A, 237/12.3 R, 237/12.3 A, 237/12.3 B, 62/228.5, 62/203, 62/244, 62/179, 62/180, 236/91 E, 236/91 F
• US Class Current: 165/202
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/00742 by detection of the vehicle occupants' presence; by detection of conditions relating to the body of occupants, e.g. using radiant heat detectors

Abstract

An automobile air-conditioner wherein a controlled variable used to determine the control mode of a component of the air-conditioner is corrected or restricted according to the amount of shifting of the head part setting temperature for driving the component of the air-conditioner based on the corrected or restricted controlled variable. With this arrangement, an occupant of the automobile senses an enhanced change of the air-conditioning operation when the head part setting temperature is changed.

Claims

1. An air-conditioner for an automobile, comprising:

(a) an air-conditioning unit including an air-flow passage having upper and lower air outlets opening to a passenger compartment of the automobile, said upper air outlet being distinct from defrost outlets of the automobile, said air-conditioning unit having means for selectively heating and cooling air as the air flows downwardly through said air-flow passage so that the temperature of the air is regulated before the air is discharged from one of said upper and lower air outlets;

(b) a bypass passage for leading air to said upper outlet directly from a first portion of said air-flow passage which is located upstream of a second portion where the air is heated, said bypass passage having a bypass door for opening and closing said bypass passage;

(c) head part temperature setting means for setting a temperature of the head part of an occupant so as to control said opening of said bypass door;

(d) total signal calculation means for calculating a total signal corresponding to a thermal load in the passenger compartment based on at least temperature signals representing a vehicle passenger compartment temperature and a setting temperature;

(e) air-conditioning control calculation means for calculating various control modes of components of said air-conditioning unit by using said total signal as at least one factor;

(f) correction/restriction control calculation means responsive to a setting of said head part temperature setting means for calculating correction variables and restriction variables for correcting and restricting at least part of the control modes of said components of said air-conditioning unit which are calculated by said air-conditioning control calculation means;

(g) correction/restriction controlled variable determination means responsive to the result of the calculation by said correction/restriction control calculation means for determining a controlled variable through correction and restriction of said at least part of the control modes of said components of said air-conditioning unit which are calculated by said air-conditioning control calculation means; and

(h) drive means for driving said air-conditioning unit based on the controlled variable obtained by said correction/restriction controlled variable determination means,

wherein said correction/restriction control calculation means selectively calculates correction variables and restriction variables for a discharge mode, an opening of an air-mix door disposed in said air-flow passage, the capacity of an evaporator, and the flow rate of a blower according to the setting of the head part temperature setting means, said discharge mode being restricted to a mode sending air to the passenger compartment through said upper air outlet when the head part setting temperature is changed, said opening of said air-mix door being corrected according to a displacement of the head part setting temperature, said opening of the air-mix door being restricted according to a maximum or minimum limitation according to the head part setting temperature, said the capacity of the evaporator being restricted to a maximum or minimum when the head part setting temperature is changed, and said the flow rate of the blower being corrected by flowing upward in a predetermined time from when the head part setting temperature is changed.

2. An air-conditioner according to claim 1, wherein said head part temperature setting means including a manual adjustment member movable in opposite directions through a central zero point for selectively increasing and decreasing the head part setting temperature.

3. An air-conditioner according to claim 1, wherein said components of said air-conditioning unit includes said blower for forcing air downwardly through said air-flow passage, and as a displacement of said head part temperature setting means from a zero point increases, said correction/restriction control calculation means is operative to increase an applied voltage of said blower for a predetermined period of time for steeply increasing the flow rate of air for the same time period when the head part temperature is shifted at a predetermined position.

4. An air-conditioner according to claim 1, wherein said components of said air-conditioning unit includes said air-mix door disposed in said air-flow passage to change proportions of cool air and hot air, and when the head part setting temperature is changed by said head part temperature setting means toward a heat side or a cool side, said correction/restriction control calculation means corrects the position of said air-mix door toward the heat side or the cool side by a predetermined amount according to the amount of change of the head part setting temperature.

5. An air-conditioner according to claim 1, wherein said components of said air-conditioning unit includes said air-mix door disposed in said air-flow passage to change proportions of cool air and hot air, and when the head part setting temperature is changed by said head part temperature setting means toward a heat side or a cool side, said correction/restriction control calculation means is operative to restrict an upper limit of the correction of the position of said air-mix door toward the heat side and the cool side and also restrict a lower limit of the correction of the position of said air-mix door toward the heat side, according to the amount of change of the head part setting temperature.

6. An air-conditioner according to claim 1, wherein said correction/restriction control calculation means includes means for restricting the discharge mode to a vent mode and a bi-level mode when the head part setting temperature is changed by said head part temperature setting means toward a heat side or a cool side beyond a predetermined range.

7. An air-conditioner according to claim 1, wherein said correction/restriction control calculation means includes means for setting an evaporator discharge temperature at a maximum level or a minimum level of the temperature obtained in an automatic control mode.