# US 11,906,216 B2 · Vehicular heat management system > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,906,216 B2 - Document ID: US11906216B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/598,036 - Filed: 2020-03-31 - Published: 2022-06-09 - Granted: 2024-02-20 - Earliest claimed: 2019-04-05 - Assignees: Hanon Systems - Applicants: Hanon Systems - Inventors: Jun Min Lee; Yong Sik Kim; Chul Hee Kim; Byeong Ha Lee; Jae O Jung; Jin Jae Lee; Doo Hoon Kim; Kyung Ju An; Joong Man Han - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11906216B2 ## CPC - F25B 41/24: Arrangement of shut-off valves for disconnecting a part of the refrigerant cycle, e.g. an outdoor part - B60H 1/00278: {for the battery} - B60H 1/00385: {for vehicles having an electrical drive, e.g. hybrid or fuel cell} - B60H 1/00485: {Valves for air-conditioning devices, e.g. thermostatic valves} - B60H 1/00885: {Controlling the flow of heating or cooling liquid, e.g. valves or pumps (B60H1/00899 takes precedence; constructions of valves B60H1/00485)} - B60H 1/00899: {Controlling the flow of liquid in a heat pump system (controlling the properties of the refrigerant liquid, e.g. pressure or temperature, B60H1/3204)} - B60H 1/00921: {where the flow direction of the refrigerant does not change and there is an extra subcondenser, e.g. in an air duct} - B60H 1/2218: {controlling the operation of electric heaters} - B60H 1/2221: {arrangements of electric heaters for heating an intermediate liquid (B60H1/034 takes precedence)} - B60H 1/32281: {comprising a single secondary circuit, e.g. at evaporator or condenser side} - F25B 5/02: arranged in parallel - F25B 5/04: arranged in series - F25B 41/20: Disposition of valves, e.g. of on-off valves or flow control valves (expansion valves F25B41/31) - B60H 2001/00307: {Component temperature regulation using a liquid flow} - B60H 2001/00928: {comprising a secondary circuit} - B60H 2001/00942: {comprising a plurality of heat exchangers, e.g. for multi zone heating or cooling} - B60H 2001/00949: {comprising additional heating/cooling sources, e.g. second evaporator} - B60H 2001/00961: {comprising means for defrosting outside heat exchangers} - B60L 58/26: by cooling - B60L 2240/545: Temperature - F25B 40/00: Subcoolers, desuperheaters or superheaters - F25B 47/022: {hot gas defrosting} - F25B 49/02: for compression type machines, plants or systems - F25B 2600/2519: On-off valves - F25B: REFRIGERATION MACHINES, PLANTS OR SYSTEMS; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS - B60H: ARRANGEMENTS OF HEATING, COOLING, VENTILATING OR OTHER AIR-TREATING DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR PASSENGER OR GOODS SPACES OF VEHICLES - B60L: PROPULSION OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES (arrangements or mounting of electrical propulsion units or of plural diverse prime-movers for mutual or common propulsion in vehicles B60K1/00, B60K6/20; arrangements or mounting of electrical gearing in vehicles B60K17/12, B60K17/14; preventing wheel slip by reducing power in rail vehicles B61C15/08; dynamo-electric machines H02K; control or regulation of electric motors H02P); SUPPLYING ELECTRIC POWER FOR AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES (electric coupling devices combined with mechanical couplings of vehicles B60D1/64; electric heating for vehicles B60H1/00); ELECTRODYNAMIC BRAKE SYSTEMS FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL (control or regulation of electric motors H02P); MAGNETIC SUSPENSION OR LEVITATION FOR VEHICLES; MONITORING OPERATING VARIABLES OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; ELECTRIC SAFETY DEVICES FOR ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES ## Abstract A vehicular heat management system is provided with a heat pump type refrigerant circulation line that cools and heats specific air conditioning regions by generating a hot air or a cold air depending on a flow direction of a refrigerant. The system includes a compressor configured to suck, compress and discharge the refrigerant, a high-pressure side heat exchanger configured to dissipate heat of the refrigerant discharged from the compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger configured to allow the refrigerant to exchange heat with an air outside the vehicle, an expansion valve configured to depressurize the refrigerant flowing out of the high-pressure side heat exchanger or the outdoor heat exchanger, and one or more low-pressure side heat exchangers configured to evaporate the depressurized refrigerant. The outdoor heat exchanger and the low-pressure side heat exchangers are connected in series or in parallel depending on an air conditioning mode. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A vehicular heat management system provided with a heat pump type refrigerant circulation line that cools and heats specific air conditioning regions by generating hot air or cold air depending on a flow direction of a refrigerant, comprising: a compressor configured to suck, compress and discharge the refrigerant; a high-pressure side heat exchanger configured to dissipate heat of the refrigerant discharged from the compressor; an outdoor heat exchanger configured to allow the refrigerant to exchange heat with an air outside the vehicle; an expansion valve configured to depressurize the refrigerant flowing out of the high-pressure side heat exchanger or the outdoor heat exchanger; and one or more low-pressure side heat exchangers configured to evaporate the depressurized refrigerant, wherein the outdoor heat exchanger and the low-pressure side heat exchangers are connected in series or in parallel depending on an air conditioning mode. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the outdoor heat exchanger and the low-pressure side heat exchangers are connectable in parallel to each other on the refrigerant circulation line to operate independently of each other and are connectable in series to each other to operate in association with each other. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The system of claim 2, wherein the outdoor heat exchanger is installed on the refrigerant circulation line, and the low-pressure side heat exchangers are installed in parallel on a branch refrigerant line branched from the refrigerant circulation line and are connected in parallel with the outdoor heat exchanger on the refrigerant circulation line. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The system of claim 3, further comprising: a connection refrigerant line configured to connect the refrigerant circulation line on the downstream side of the outdoor heat exchanger and the branch refrigerant line on the upstream side of the low-pressure side heat exchangers, wherein the connection refrigerant line is configured to connect the outdoor heat exchanger of the refrigerant circulation line and the low-pressure side heat exchangers of the branch refrigerant line in series. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The system of claim 4, further comprising: a refrigerant flow controller configured to, depending on an air conditioning mode, control a refrigerant flow between the outdoor heat exchanger of the refrigerant circulation line and the low-pressure side heat exchangers of the branch refrigerant line in series or in parallel. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The system of claim 5, wherein the refrigerant flow controller includes: variable expansion valves respectively installed on the upstream side of the outdoor heat exchanger and the low-pressure side heat exchangers to permit or block introduction of the refrigerant into the outdoor heat exchanger and the low-pressure side heat exchangers; an on/off valve installed in the branch refrigerant line to permit or block a refrigerant flow in a parallel structure of the low-pressure side heat exchangers of the branch refrigerant line with respect to the outdoor heat exchanger of the refrigerant circulation line; a refrigerant flow control valve installed in the refrigerant circulation line to permit or block a refrigerant flow in a series structure of the outdoor heat exchanger of the refrigerant circulation line and the low-pressure side heat exchangers of the branch refrigerant line; and a controller configured to control the variable expansion valves, the on/off valve and the refrigerant flow control valve so that the refrigerant flow between the outdoor heat exchanger of the refrigerant circulation line and the low-pressure side heat exchangers of the branch refrigerant line is controlled in series or in parallel depending on the air conditioning mode. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The system of claim 6, wherein the outdoor heat exchanger of the refrigerant circulation line is installed on the side of an engine room, and one of the low-pressure side heat exchangers of the branch refrigerant line is used for cooling a passenger compartment while the other is used for cooling a battery. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The system of claim 7, wherein the controller is configured to, in a maximum air conditioning mode, control the variable expansion valves, the on/off valve and the refrigerant flow control valve to permit a refrigerant flow in a series structure of the outdoor heat exchanger and the low-pressure side heat exchanger for cooling the passenger compartment. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The system of claim 8, wherein the controller is configured to, when simultaneously entering an air conditioning mode and a battery cooling mode, control the variable expansion valves, the on/off valve and the refrigerant flow control valve to permit a refrigerant flow in a series structure of the outdoor heat exchanger and the low-pressure side heat exchanger for cooling the passenger compartment and a refrigerant flow in a series structure of the outdoor heat exchanger and the low-pressure side heat exchanger for cooling the battery. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9, wherein the controller is configured to, in a battery cooling mode for fast cooling the battery, control the variable expansion valves, the on/off valve and the refrigerant flow control valve to permit a refrigerant flow in a series structure of the outdoor heat exchanger and the low-pressure side heat exchanger for cooling the battery. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The system of claim 10, wherein the controller is configured to, in a maximum heat pump mode, control the variable expansion valves, the on/off valve and the refrigerant flow control valve to permit a refrigerant flow in a series structure of the outdoor heat exchanger and the low-pressure side heat exchanger for cooling the battery. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The system of claim 11, wherein the controller is configured to, when a defrosting mode for removing the icing of the outdoor heat exchanger is performed during entry into a heat pump mode, control the variable expansion valves, the on/off valve and the refrigerant flow control valve to block introduction of the refrigerant into the outdoor heat exchanger and to permit an independent refrigerant flow through the low-pressure side heat exchanger for cooling the battery. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The system of claim 12, wherein the controller is configured to, when a passenger compartment dehumidifying mode is performed during entry into the heat pump mode, control the variable expansion valves, the on/off valve and the refrigerant flow control valve to permit a refrigerant flow in a parallel structure of the outdoor heat exchanger, the low-pressure side heat exchanger for cooling the passenger compartment and the low-pressure side heat exchanger for cooling the battery. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The system of claim 13, wherein the controller is configured to, when the defrosting mode for removing the icing of the outdoor heat exchanger and the passenger compartment dehumidifying mode are simultaneously performed during entry into the heat pump mode, control the variable expansion valves, the on/off valve and the refrigerant flow control valve to block introduction of the refrigerant into the outdoor heat exchanger and to permit a refrigerant flow in a parallel structure of the low-pressure side heat exchanger for cooling the passenger compartment and the low-pressure side heat exchanger for cooling the battery. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The system of claim 14, wherein the controller is configured to variably control the variable expansion valves depending on a cooling/heating load and an overheating degree. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The system of claim 15, wherein the controller is configured to control opening degrees of the expansion valves on the upstream side of the outdoor heat exchanger depending on ambient air temperature inputted from ambient air sensor and to control opening degrees of the expansion valves on the upstream side of the low-pressure side heat exchangers for cooling the passenger compartment and the battery depending on refrigerant temperature and pressure value of PT sensors installed on the downstream side of the low-pressure side heat exchangers for cooling the passenger compartment and the battery. ### Claim 17 (depends on 7) The system of claim 7, further comprising: an internal heat exchanger configured to allow high-temperature refrigerant supplied from the outdoor heat exchanger to the low-pressure side heat exchangers for cooling the passenger compartment and the battery to exchange heat with low-temperature refrigerant supplied from transferred from the low-pressure side heat exchangers for cooling the passenger compartment and the battery to the compressor, when at least one of a set of the outdoor heat exchanger and the low-pressure side heat exchanger for cooling the passenger compartment and a set of the outdoor heat exchanger and the low-pressure side heat exchanger for cooling the battery is connected in series. ### Claim 18 (depends on 7) The system of claim 7, wherein the low-pressure side heat exchanger for cooling the battery is used for cooling an electric component module, and the battery and the electric component module are connected in a water-cooled manner to the low-pressure side heat exchanger for cooling the battery through a cooling water circulation line so that the battery and the electric component module are cooled by receiving heat energy from the low-pressure side heat exchanger for cooling the battery through the cooling water circulated along the cooling water circulation line. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The system of claim 18, wherein the battery and the electric component module are installed on the cooling water circulation line so that the battery and the electric component module are connected in parallel to each other with respect to the low-pressure side heat exchanger for cooling the battery. ### Claim 20 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, further comprising: a heater core side cooling water circulation line configured to heat the passenger compartment by transferring the heat of the refrigerant generated in the refrigerant circulation line to a heater core installed in the passenger compartment in a water-cooled manner. ### Claim 21 (depends on 20) The system of claim 20, wherein the heater core side cooling water circulation line is configured to circulate the cooling water between the high-pressure side heat exchanger of the refrigerant circulation line and the heater core so that the heat of the refrigerant in the refrigerant circulation line dissipated from the high-pressure side heat exchanger is transferred to the cooling water is introduced into the heater core. ### Claim 22 (depends on 21) The system of claim 21, wherein the heater core side cooling water circulation line further includes a PTC heater operated by an applied electric current to heat the cooling water circulated to the heater core, and a water pump configured to forcedly circulate the cooling water between a water-cooled heat exchanger of the refrigerant circulation line, the heater core and the PTC heater.