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US 12,715,270 B2Granted
Vehicle cabin dehumidification at low ambient temperatures
AssigneeGM Global Technology Operations LLC
InventorDevin C. Richardson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of operating a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system of a vehicle includes operating the HVAC system in a heating mode to heat a supply airflow and direct the heated supply airflow into a passenger compartment of the vehicle; and selectably directing a flow of refrigerant through an evaporator of the HVAC system to reduce a relative humidity of the supply airflow by condensing excess moisture out of the supply airflow at the evaporator.
Claims14
A method of operating a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system of a vehicle, comprising:
- operating the HVAC system in a heating mode to heat a supply airflow and direct the heated supply airflow into a passenger compartment of the vehicle;
- and
- selectably directing a flow of refrigerant through an evaporator of the HVAC system to reduce a relative humidity of the supply airflow by condensing excess moisture out of the supply airflow at the evaporator;
- directing the flow of refrigerant through the evaporator while the supply airflow is recirculated into the HVAC system from the passenger compartment;
- and
- after directing the flow of refrigerant through the evaporator for a preselected duration, removing accumulated moisture from the evaporator by opening a fresh air duct to admit ambient air as a portion of the supply airflow, and stopping the flow of refrigerant through the evaporator.
3 more elements
A heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system of a vehicle, comprising:
- a refrigerant circuit including:
- a compressor to urge a flow of refrigerant through the refrigerant circuit;
- a condenser heater;
- an evaporator;
- one or more supply airflow inlets configured to direct a supply airflow across one or more of the condenser heater and the evaporator;
- one or more outlet ducts configured to direct the supply airflow to a passenger compartment of the vehicle;
- and
- an HVAC system controller configured to:
- operate the HVAC system in a heating mode to heat the supply airflow by directing the supply airflow across the condenser heater, and direct the heated supply airflow into the passenger compartment of the vehicle;
- and
- selectably direct a flow of refrigerant through the evaporator to reduce a relative humidity of the supply airflow by condensing excess moisture out of the supply airflow at the evaporator;
- wherein the flow of refrigerant is directed through the evaporator while the supply airflow is recirculated into the HVAC system from the passenger compartment;
- and
- wherein after directing the flow of refrigerant through the evaporator for a preselected duration, removing accumulated moisture from the evaporator by opening a fresh air duct to admit ambient air as a portion of the supply airflow, and stopping the flow of refrigerant through the evaporator.
11 more elements
A vehicle, comprising:
- a vehicle body defining a passenger compartment;
- and
- a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system configured to provide heating and/or cooling to the passenger compartment, including:
- a refrigerant circuit including:
- a compressor to urge a flow of refrigerant through the refrigerant circuit;
- a condenser heater;
- and
- an evaporator;
- one or more supply airflow inlets configured to direct a supply airflow across one or more of the condenser heater and the evaporator;
- one or more outlet ducts configured to direct the supply airflow to the passenger compartment;
- and
- an HVAC system controller configured to:
- operate the HVAC system in a heating mode to heat the supply airflow by directing the supply airflow across the condenser heater, and direct the heated supply airflow into the passenger compartment of the vehicle;
- and
- selectably direct a flow of refrigerant through the evaporator to reduce a relative humidity of the supply airflow by condensing excess moisture out of the supply airflow at the evaporator;
- wherein the flow of refrigerant is directed through the evaporator while the supply airflow is recirculated into the HVAC system from the passenger compartment;
- and
- wherein after directing the flow of refrigerant through the evaporator for a preselected duration, removing accumulated moisture from the evaporator by opening a fresh air duct to admit ambient air as a portion of the supply airflow, and stopping the flow of refrigerant through the evaporator.
15 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.