JPH0585155A - Vehicle air conditioning controller - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To obtain energy-saving effects according to the external environment at low cost. [Structure] An air conditioner switch 13, an evaporator temperature sensor 10 for detecting the temperature of an evaporator 2, a compressor 9 connected to the evaporator based on a predetermined compressor on / off evaporator temperature, and a magnet clutch relay drive circuit 12 are provided. A controller 11 for on / off control is provided. Then, when the air conditioner switch 13 is turned on, the controller 11 sets the control mode of the compressor to the reference mode, measures the time from compressor off to on during the compressor control in this reference mode, and measures the measured time. Evaporator introduction wind temperature is estimated by comparing with the time at the reference evaporator introduction wind temperature, and the control mode of the compressor is set to be switched between the standard mode and the economy mode according to the estimated evaporator introduction wind temperature. ..

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle air conditioning control device, and more particularly to a vehicle air conditioning control device applied to an air conditioning system for energy saving measures.

[0002]

BACKGROUND ART Nowadays, the problem of energy saving is a socially important problem, and many air conditioners for vehicles (car air conditioners) have been considered in consideration of energy saving.
As a control device for a vehicle air conditioner that takes this energy saving into consideration, a standard mode (A / C mode) is used as a control mode for controlling on / off (OFF) of a compressor for sending a refrigerant to an evaporator in the air conditioner. ) And an economy mode (energy saving mode) are prepared, an A / C switch and an economy switch corresponding to these modes are provided, and the user selects these switches to switch the mode. ing. In addition, an evaporator introduction air temperature sensor including a thermistor for detecting the temperature of the air introduced into the evaporator is provided on the upstream side (inside / outside air intake side) of the evaporator, and a microcomputer (hereinafter, referred to as " There is also one that automatically switches the above modes by means of a "microcomputer".).

[0003]

However, in the conventional example in which the user performs the mode switching,
There is a problem that the energy saving effect cannot always be exerted because the switching operation is left to the user. Also, in the case where the mode is automatically switched by the microcomputer of the conventional example described above, the energy saving effect can be obtained but the evaporator introduction wind. The thermistor for detecting the temperature and the interface circuit to the microcomputer accompanying the thermistor are required, which is disadvantageous in that it is more expensive than a normal energy-saving type car air conditioner.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems of the prior art, and an object thereof is to provide an air conditioning control device for a vehicle, which is low in cost and has an energy saving effect according to the external environment. Especially.

[0005]

A vehicle air conditioning control device of the present invention includes an air conditioner switch for stopping driving of an air conditioning device,
An evaporator temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the evaporator in the air conditioner, and a control means for controlling on / off of the compressor connected to the evaporator based on a predetermined compressor on / off evaporator temperature via a magnet clutch relay drive circuit. Is equipped with. And
When the air conditioner switch is turned on, the control means turns the compressor on / off which is based on the control mode of the compressor.
The first function to set the standard mode to control the compressor on / off by the evaporator temperature for off, and the second function to measure the time from compressor off to on during the compressor control in this standard mode, A third function for estimating the evaporator-introduced air temperature by comparing the measured time with the time from the compressor off to the on-time at the evaporator-introduced air temperature that serves as a reference, and the compressor according to the estimated evaporator-introduced air temperature. It has a fourth function of switching and setting the control mode of the standard mode to the economy mode. With such a configuration, the above-described object is to be achieved.

[0006]

When the air conditioner switch is turned on, the control means sets the control mode of the compressor to the reference mode. After that, the control means controls the compressor on / off in this reference mode, measures the time from compressor off to on, and measures this measured time as the time from compressor off to on at the evaporator-introduced wind temperature that becomes the reference. The temperature of the air introduced into the evaporator is estimated by comparison. Next, the control means sets the control mode of the compressor to either the standard mode or the economy mode according to the estimated evaporator-introduced air temperature, and thereafter controls the compressor on / off in this mode.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

The air conditioning controller of the embodiment shown in FIG.
It controls an air conditioner (air conditioner) such as shown in FIG. Therefore, the configuration of the air conditioner shown in FIG. 2 will be described first.

The air conditioner shown in FIG. 2 includes a blower fan (blower fan) 1, an evaporator 2 which is a kind of heat exchanger arranged on the downstream side (right side in the figure) of the blower fan 1, For switching the heater core 3 arranged on the downstream side of the evaporator 2, the inside / outside air damper 4 for switching the inside / outside air taken into the air conditioner 4, the air mix damper 5 for adjusting the blowing temperature, and the outlet. The defroster damper 6, the ventilator damper 7, and the foot damper 8 are provided. The evaporator 2 is connected to a compressor 9 that forms a part of a cooling cycle together with the evaporator 2. By driving the compressor 9, a refrigerant is sent into the evaporator 2 and the refrigerant is blown into the air in the air passage. The heat is exchanged with the air so that the air is cooled. The engine cooling water is sent to the heater core 3 through the cooling water passage, and the heat in the cooling water warms the air in the air passage. In this air conditioner,
The various dampers are opened and closed and the strength of the blower fan 1 is adjusted manually by an external operation.

Next, the air conditioning control device shown in FIG. 1 will be described. The air conditioning control device of FIG. 1 includes an air conditioner switch 13 for stopping driving of an air conditioner, an evaporator temperature sensor 10, an air conditioner AMP controller (hereinafter, referred to as “controller”) 11 as control means, and a magnet clutch relay drive circuit 12. It has and.

More specifically, the evaporator temperature sensor 10 is installed near the downstream side of the evaporator 2 as shown in FIG. The evaporator temperature sensor 10 is actually composed of a thermistor or the like and detects the temperature of the evaporator 2. Further, the controller 11 is composed of a microcomputer, and controls ON / OFF of the compressor 9 according to a program described later. The magnet clutch relay drive circuit 12 is a circuit for driving a magnet clutch relay (not shown) that controls on / off (OFF) of a magnet clutch (not shown) provided in the compressor 9, and when the magnet clutch is on. The rotation of the engine is transmitted to the compressor 9 to drive the compressor 9, and when the magnet clutch is off, the rotation of the engine is not transmitted to the compressor 9, so that the compressor 9 is stopped. Here, for the on / off control of the compressor 9, the controller 11 sets the compressor on / off evaporator temperature TON / TOFF for each control mode described later, and the set compressor on / off evaporator temperature TON / TOFF This is done by turning on and off the magnet relay based on TOFF.

In FIG. 1, the output of the air conditioner switch 13 is directly transmitted to the controller 11, and the output of the evaporator temperature sensor 10 is transmitted to the controller 11 via the interface circuit 14.

Next, the controller 11 in this embodiment
The control operation will be described with reference to the flowchart showing the control program of FIG. When the air conditioner switch 13 is turned on by the passenger of the vehicle, this control program starts. (It is assumed that a predetermined initial setting is performed at the same time as the start.)

First, the controller 11 sets the control mode of the compressor 9 to the reference mode in which the compressor 9 is on / off controlled at the compressor on / off evaporator temperatures TON1 and TOFF1 which are the reference (step S101). In this embodiment, this reference mode is the same as the standard mode (A / C mode) described later. Here, the reference mode means the evaporator ON / OFF evaporator temperatures TON1 and TOFF1 (for example, TON1
= 2.5 ° C., TOFF1 = 1.0 ° C.), which means a mode for turning on / off the compressor 9.

Next, the controller 11 reads the evaporator temperature TEV from the evaporator temperature sensor 10 (step S102), and determines whether the evaporator temperature TEV is equal to or higher than the compressor-on evaporator temperature TON1 (step S103). Here, since it is considered that the normal evaporator temperature TEV exceeds TON1, the controller 11 turns on the compressor 9 (step S104). The negative result of the determination in step S103 is whether the evaporator has been cooled down to the normal temperature due to the previous use of the air conditioner,
Alternatively, it is considered that the outside air temperature is extremely low and there is no need for cooling.

Next, the controller 11 reads the evaporator temperature TEV again (step S105), judges whether this TEV is equal to or lower than the compressor-off evaporator temperature TOFF1 (step S106), and thus the temperature of the evaporator 2 is determined. Until TOFF1 is reached,
The ON state of the compressor 9 is maintained (step S10).
4 to S106). Then, in the controller 11, when the temperature of the evaporator 2 decreases and reaches TOFF1, the compressor 9 is turned off and at the same time, the timer operation is started (step S107).

Next, the controller 11 waits for the evaporator temperature to rise to TON1 while reading the evaporator temperature TEV (steps S108, S1).
09). When the evaporator temperature TEV reaches TON1, the controller 11 turns on the compressor 9 and simultaneously stops the timer operation (step S11).
0).

Next, the controller 11 compares the time T from turning off the compressor to turning it on with the time t when the temperature of the air introduced into the evaporator is a predetermined reference temperature (for example, 25 ° C.) (S111). As a result, the temperature of the air introduced into the evaporator can be estimated. That is, T <
If t, the actual temperature of the air introduced into the evaporator is 25 ° C.
It is estimated to be higher, and if T ≧ t, the actual evaporator-introduced wind temperature is estimated to be 25 ° C. or lower.

When T <t, that is, when the temperature of the air introduced into the evaporator can be estimated to be higher than 25 ° C., the controller 11 controls the compressor 9 in the A / C mode (standard mode) (here, a subroutine). , Not specifically shown) (step S11).
3). Here, this A / C mode is as described above.
This is a mode in which the compressor 9 is controlled to be turned on / off at the same compressor ON / OFF evaporator temperatures TON1 and TOFF1 as in the reference mode. Then, the controller 11 repeats turning the compressor 9 on and off 10 times in the A / C mode (step S114), and then the step S114.
Returning to 101, the above control operation is repeated.

On the other hand, when T ≧ t in step S111, that is, when it can be estimated that the temperature of the air introduced into the evaporator is 25 ° C. or lower, a subroutine for controlling the compressor 9 in the economy mode (here, specifically, (Not shown) (step S11)
5). Here, the economy mode is a compressor ON / OFF evaporator temperature TON2 / TOFF2 (for example, TON2 = 11.5 ° C., TOFF2, which is higher than the reference mode).
= 10 ° C.), this is a mode in which the compressor 9 is on / off controlled. Also in this case, as in the case of the control in the A / C mode, the compressor 9 is repeatedly turned on and off 10 times (step S116), and then step S101.
Then, the above control operation is repeated. Step S above
In 114 and S116, the on / off operation of the compressor 9 is repeated 10 times and the process returns to step S101 for the purpose of repeatedly checking the temperature of the air introduced into the evaporator and performing control corresponding to the change in the temperature of the air introduced into the evaporator. It is a thing.

According to this embodiment described above, the controller 1 can be operated without using the temperature sensor for introducing the evaporator air.
The evaporator introduction wind temperature is estimated by the function of 1, and accordingly the compressor 9 is controlled in the economy mode when the outside air temperature is low and in the A / C mode when the outside air temperature is high, and the energy saving effect is obtained in the economy mode. A / C
In the mode, the same cooling effect as the conventional one can be obtained.
Further, since the temperature of the air introduced into the evaporator is repeatedly checked at predetermined intervals, fine control corresponding to changes in the outside air temperature is performed. Therefore, the conventional air conditioner system that has existed can be used as it is, and it can be realized without adding any parts by simply changing the software in the controller, without increasing the cost and saving energy according to the external environment. The effect can be surely obtained.

Although the reference mode and the standard mode have been described as the same in the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and the contents of the reference mode and the standard mode are different. Good.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The temperature of the air introduced into the evaporator is estimated by the control means, and the control mode (standard mode, economy mode) of the compressor is set in accordance with the estimated temperature of the introduced air into the evaporator. Therefore, when the outside temperature is low, the compressor operates in the economy mode. Will be controlled. Therefore, it is possible to reliably obtain the energy saving effect according to the external environment, and it is possible to easily realize it by simply changing the software in the controller of a conventional air conditioner system, and it is possible to supply at low cost without adding parts. It is possible to provide an excellent vehicle air-conditioning control device that has never existed.

As an application of the present invention, it is conceivable to estimate the temperature of the air introduced into the evaporator from the time it takes from the time the compressor is turned on to the time it is turned off. I don't think it's a good way to do it.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a vehicle air conditioning control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of an air conditioner controlled by the control device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a control program of the controller of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 evaporator 9 compressor 10 evaporator temperature sensor 11 air conditioner AMP controller as control means 12 magnet clutch relay drive circuit 13 air conditioner switch

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An air conditioner switch for stopping driving of an air conditioner, an evaporator temperature sensor for detecting a temperature of an evaporator in the air conditioner, and a predetermined compressor on / off switch.
Control means for controlling on / off of a compressor connected to the evaporator based on a temperature of the evaporator for turning off via a magnet clutch relay drive circuit, the control means controlling the compressor when the air conditioner switch is turned on. The compressor is turned on at the evaporator on / off evaporator temperature that is the mode reference.
The first function to set the reference mode to control off, the second function to measure the time from compressor off to on during compressor control in this reference mode, and the introduction of an evaporator based on this measured time. A third function of estimating the temperature of the air introduced into the evaporator by comparing it with the time from the time the compressor is turned off to the time of the air temperature, and the control mode of the compressor is set to the standard mode and the economy mode according to the estimated temperature of the air introduced to the evaporator. A vehicle air-conditioning control device having a fourth function of switching setting to and.