Operating a comfort subsystem for a vehicle
First Claim
1. An air conditioning system for a cabin of a vehicle comprising:
- an air conditioning compressor having a drive shaft that is rotated to operate the air conditioning compressor;
an electrically operated clutch assembly mounted on the drive shaft of the air conditioning compressor, wherein the clutch assembly includes a first pulley for coupling via a first drive belt to a second pulley, wherein the second pulley is rigidly coupled to a drive engine of the vehicle, and wherein the first pulley is rotated by the drive engine via the first drive belt coupled to the second pulley;
a third pulley rigidly coupled to a hub of the clutch assembly, wherein the hub is rigidly coupled to the air conditioning compressor shaft;
an electric motor; and
a fourth pulley rigidly coupled to a shaft of the electric motor, wherein the third pulley is rotated by the electric motor via a second drive belt coupling the third and fourth pulleys or the fourth pulley is rotated by the drive engine, the first, second and third pulleys and the first and second drive belts, wherein in response to control signals the clutch assembly selects between i) coupling the first pulley rigidly to the air conditioning compressor shaft in a first mode, so that with the electric motor de-energized the pulleys are configured in the first mode for the drive engine driving both the air conditioning compressor shaft and the electric motor shaft, and ii) coupling the first pulley to turn independently of the air conditioning compressor shaft in a second mode, so that with the electric motor energized the pulleys are configured in the second mode for the electric motor driving the air conditioning compressor shaft via the third pulley independently of the drive engine.
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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.
236 Citations
54 Claims
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1. An air conditioning system for a cabin of a vehicle comprising:
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an air conditioning compressor having a drive shaft that is rotated to operate the air conditioning compressor; an electrically operated clutch assembly mounted on the drive shaft of the air conditioning compressor, wherein the clutch assembly includes a first pulley for coupling via a first drive belt to a second pulley, wherein the second pulley is rigidly coupled to a drive engine of the vehicle, and wherein the first pulley is rotated by the drive engine via the first drive belt coupled to the second pulley; a third pulley rigidly coupled to a hub of the clutch assembly, wherein the hub is rigidly coupled to the air conditioning compressor shaft; an electric motor; and a fourth pulley rigidly coupled to a shaft of the electric motor, wherein the third pulley is rotated by the electric motor via a second drive belt coupling the third and fourth pulleys or the fourth pulley is rotated by the drive engine, the first, second and third pulleys and the first and second drive belts, wherein in response to control signals the clutch assembly selects between i) coupling the first pulley rigidly to the air conditioning compressor shaft in a first mode, so that with the electric motor de-energized the pulleys are configured in the first mode for the drive engine driving both the air conditioning compressor shaft and the electric motor shaft, and ii) coupling the first pulley to turn independently of the air conditioning compressor shaft in a second mode, so that with the electric motor energized the pulleys are configured in the second mode for the electric motor driving the air conditioning compressor shaft via the third pulley independently of the drive engine. - 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. 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 that is rotated to operate the compressor, the drive shaft of the air conditioning compressor coupled to a first pulley, the first pulley being a pulley of an electrically operated clutch assembly, the clutch assembly being responsive to control signals, wherein the first pulley is rotated by a first belt coupled to the ICE via a second pulley, the method comprising:
responsive to the control signals, driving an electric motor with an auxiliary power source to operate the air conditioning system when the ICE is off and the electrically operated clutch assembly disengages the first pulley from the drive shaft of the air conditioning compressor, wherein a third pulley is rigidly coupled to a hub rigidly coupled to the air conditioning compressor shaft, and a fourth pulley is rigidly coupled to a shaft of the electric motor, wherein the third pulley is rotated by the electric motor via a second drive belt coupling the third and fourth pulleys. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 40)
- 34. The method of chum 33, wherein the external pressurized air source is a pressurized tire of the vehicle.
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42. An air conditioning system comprising:
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an air conditioning compressor having a drive shaft 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 a second pulley rigidly coupled to an internal combustion engine, the first means configured for selectively allowing the first pulley to rotate independently of the air conditioning compressor drive shaft to disengage the internal combustion engine from rotating the air conditioning compressor drive shaft; and second means for rigidly coupling a third pulley to the drive shaft of the air conditioning compressor, the third pulley rotated by a second belt coupled to an electric motor. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. 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 that is rotated to operate the compressor, wherein a first pulley is coupled to the drive shaft of the air conditioning compressor with an electrically operated clutch, the clutch having a hub rigidly coupled to the air conditioning compressor drive shall, the first pulley rotated by a first belt coupled to the ICE of the vehicle, the method comprising:
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rigidly coupling a second pulley to the hub; coupling an electric motor to the second pulley with a second drive belt, wherein rigidly coupling the second pulley comprises; rigidly coupling a jackshaft to the hub; and rigidly coupling the second pulley to the jackshaft; 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; 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 the auxiliary power source comprises a battery based power source having battery cells configured to generate a battery DC voltage, wherein the auxiliary power source further comprises a fuel cell with an output that generates a fuel cell DC voltage; supplying power from the fuel cell DC voltage when the battery DC voltage is below a predetermined low battery value; charging the battery based power source from the fuel cell DC voltage while providing power when the battery DC voltage is below the predetermined low battery value; supplying power from both the fuel cell DC voltage and the battery DC voltage in parallel, wherein the battery DC voltage provides a peak current requirement; and supplying power from the battery based power source when the fuel cell DC voltage is below a predetermined low fuel cell value.
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48. An air conditioning system for a cabin of a vehicle comprising:
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an air conditioning compressor having a drive shaft 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 second pulley rigidly coupled to a drive engine of the vehicle; a hub rigidly coupled to the drive shaft of the air conditioning compressor; a third pulley rigidly coupled to the hub and driven by an electric motor with a second drive belt, the second drive belt being coupled to a fourth pulley rigidly coupled to the electric motor; 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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49. An air conditioning system for a cabin of a vehicle comprising:
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an air conditioning compressor having a drive shaft 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 second pulley rigidly coupled to a drive engine of the vehicle; a hub rigidly coupled to the drive shaft of the air conditioning compressor; a third pulley rigidly coupled to the hub and driven by an electric motor with a second drive belt, the second drive belt being coupled to a fourth pulley rigidly coupled to the electric motor; 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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50. 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 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 a second pulley rigidly coupled to the ICE, a hub rigidly coupled to the drive shaft of the air conditioning compressor, a third pulley rigidly coupled to the hub, and an electric motor coupled to the third pulley with a second drive belt, the second drive belt being coupled to a fourth pulley rigidly coupled to the electric motor, 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 (51)
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52. 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 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 a second pulley rigidly coupled to the ICE, a hub rigidly coupled to the drive shaft of the air conditioning compressor, a third pulley rigidly coupled to the hub, and an electric motor coupled to the third pulley with a second drive belt, the second drive belt being coupled to a fourth pulley rigidly coupled to the electric motor, 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 shall of the air conditioning compressor when the electric motor is powered and driving the huh 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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53. 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 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 a second pulley rigidly coupled to the ICE, a hub rigidly coupled to the drive shaft of the air conditioning compressor, a second pulley rigidly coupled to the hub, and a 3-phase AC electric motor coupled to the second pulley with a second drive belt, the second drive belt being coupled to a fourth pulley rigidly coupled to the 3-phase AC electric motor, the method comprising:
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responsive to the control signals, driving the 3-phase AC 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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54. 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 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; rigidly coupling a second pulley to the ICE of the vehicle, wherein with the ICE running the first pulley is rotated by a first belt coupled to the second pulley; rigidly coupling a hub to the drive shaft of the air conditioning compressor; rigidly coupling a third pulley to the hub; and coupling an electric motor to the third pulley with a second drive belt, the second drive belt being coupled to a fourth pulley rigidly coupled to the electric motor, wherein with the electric motor running, the third pulley is rotated by the second drive belt, and wherein rigidly coupling the second pulley comprises; rigidly coupling a jackshaft to the hub; and rigidly coupling the second pulley to the jackshaft, wherein the method further comprises; 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