Air conditioning intake door control
First Claim
1. An outside air intake quantity control apparatus for controlling an outside air intake quantity of outside air introduced into a compartment of a vehicle, the outside air intake quantity control apparatus comprising:
- exhaust gas concentration calculating means for calculating an ambient exhaust gas concentration from a sensor output signal from an ambient exhaust gas sensor;
differentiating means for calculating a derivative of the exhaust gas concentration representing a time rate of change of the exhaust gas concentration;
first checking means for checking a previous value of the derivative calculated at a previous time, to determine whether a previous exhaust gas concentration change is in one of a stable state and a changing state in a clean direction toward a cleaner state;
second checking means for checking whether a current value of the derivative calculated at a current time is equal to or greater than a predetermine derivative threshold; and
controlling means for controlling an outside air inlet opening to reduce the outside air intake quantity to a minimum value when the previous exhaust gas concentration change is in one of the stable state and the changing state in the clean direction and the current value of the derivative is equal to or greater than the predetermine derivative threshold.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle air conditioning control system includes an actuator for controlling the position of an outside air intake door and an ambient exhaust gas sensor. A controller of the control system monitors a time rate of change of the degree of uncleanness periodically measured on the basis of the output of the sensor, and commands the actuator to bring the intake door to the fully closed position for the inside air recirculation mode if a first requirement about a previous exhaust gas concentration change and a second requirement about a current exhaust gas concentration change are both met.
-
Citations
12 Claims
-
1. An outside air intake quantity control apparatus for controlling an outside air intake quantity of outside air introduced into a compartment of a vehicle, the outside air intake quantity control apparatus comprising:
-
exhaust gas concentration calculating means for calculating an ambient exhaust gas concentration from a sensor output signal from an ambient exhaust gas sensor;
differentiating means for calculating a derivative of the exhaust gas concentration representing a time rate of change of the exhaust gas concentration;
first checking means for checking a previous value of the derivative calculated at a previous time, to determine whether a previous exhaust gas concentration change is in one of a stable state and a changing state in a clean direction toward a cleaner state;
second checking means for checking whether a current value of the derivative calculated at a current time is equal to or greater than a predetermine derivative threshold; and
controlling means for controlling an outside air inlet opening to reduce the outside air intake quantity to a minimum value when the previous exhaust gas concentration change is in one of the stable state and the changing state in the clean direction and the current value of the derivative is equal to or greater than the predetermine derivative threshold. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
-
-
7. A vehicle air conditioning system comprising:
-
an output section comprising an actuator for varying an outside air inlet opening degree to vary an amount of an outside air introduced into a compartment of a vehicle in response to a control signal;
an input section comprising an outside air condition sensor for sensing an unclean condition of the outside air; and
a control section comprising a controller for controlling the outside air inlet opening degree to control the amount of the outside air introduced into the compartment of the vehicle by producing the control signal in accordance with an output signal of the outside air condition sensor, for determining an outside air condition quantity indicative of a degree of uncleanness of the outside air from the output signal of the outside air condition sensor, for monitoring changes of the outside air condition quantity successively, and for reducing the outside air inlet opening degree to a minimum setting when a previous change of the outside air condition quantity is not in an unclean direction toward a less clean state, and at the same time a current change of the outside air condition quantity has a direction in the unclean direction and a magnitude greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. An air intake door control process for a vehicle air conditioning system comprising an intake door for opening and closing an outside air inlet, the air intake door control process comprising the steps of;
-
ascertaining a sensed ambient exhaust gas concentration of an outside air;
calculating an outside air condition quantity representing an outside exhaust gas concentration from the sensed ambient exhaust gas concentration;
determining a time series of values of a time rate of change of a degree of uncleanness of the outside air by monitoring variation in the outside air condition quantity;
checking a previous value of the time rate calculated at a previous time, to determine whether a previous exhaust gas concentration change is in one of a stable state and a changing state in a clean direction toward a cleaner state;
checking a current value of the time rate calculated at a current time, to determine whether the current value of the time rate is equal to or greater than a predetermine rate threshold; and
commanding the intake door to close the outside air inlet when the previous exhaust gas concentration change is in one of the stable state and the changing state in the clean direction and the current value of the time rate is equal to or greater than the predetermine rate threshold.
-
Specification