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US 4,538,760 AGranted
Air conditioner control arrangement for automotive vehicle or the like
AssigneeNissan Shatai Company, Limited
InventorShinma Kobayashi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The blower of an air conditioner is either (a) rotated at an ultra low speed until a first predetermined air temperature is sensed in the duct in which the blower is disposed, or (b) is temporarily disabled until a minimal engine coolant temperature is sensed, whereafter in both cases the rotational speed of the blower is stepped up a little to a still "low" level and held at this level until the temperature of the air discharged from the duct has risen to a second predetermined temperature. Subsequently the rotational speed of the blower is increased at a suitable rate until a maximum rotational level is reached.
Claims20
An air conditioning unit for a vehicle having a cabin, comprising:
- a duct for inducting air and for discharging the inducted air into said cabin;
- a source of heated fluid;
- a heat exchanger through which said heated fluid circulates, said heat exchanger being arranged to heat the air in said duct;
- a blower associated with said duct and energizable to induce air to flow through said duct;
- a sensor for sensing the temperature of said air in said duct, and for producing a signal indicative of the sensed duct air temperature;
- and
- control means, responsive to said sensor and connected to said blower, for driving said blower at a standby speed when said signal indicates that the temperature of the duct air is below a first predetermined value, for driving said blower at a minimum speed greater than said standby speed when said signal indicates that the temperature of the duct air is above said first predetermined value and below a second predetermined value greater than said predetermined value, and for increasing the speed of said blower to a controlled speed in a range between said minimum speed and a maximum speed when said signal indicates that the duct air temperature is above said second predetermined value,
- said control means further comprising means for deriving said controlled speed based on blower control parameters.
5 more elements
In a vehicle an air conditioning unit for conditioning the air within a cabin of said vehicle, comprising:
- a duct for inducting air and for discharging the inducted air into said cabin;
- a source of heated fluid;
- a heat exchanger through which said heated fluid circulates, said heat exchanger being arranged to heat the air in said duct;
- a blower associated with said duct and energizable to induce air to flow through said duct;
- a sensor for sensing the temperature of the air in said duct and outputting an signal indicative thereof;
- a switch for selectably placing said air conditioning system in one of an operative and inoperative condition;
- and
- control means, responsively connected to said sensor and said switch, and controllingly connected to said blower, for driving said blower at a controlled speed variable depending on the value of said sensor indication, said control means being responsive to said sensor signal for driving said blower at a standby speed when said signal indicates that the temperature of the duct air is below a first predetermined value, for driving said blower at a minimum speed greater than said standby speed when said signal indicates that the temperature of the duct air is above said first predetermined value and below a second predetermined value greater than said first predetermined value, and for increasing the speed of said blower to a controlled speed in a range between said minimum speed and a maximum speed when said signal indicates that the duct air temperature is above said second predetermined value,
- said control means further comprising means for deriving said controlled speed based on blow control parameters.
6 more elements
A method of operating an air conditioning unit for a vehicle having a cabin, said air conditioning unit including:
- a duct for inducting air and discharging the inducted air into said cabin;
- a source of heated fluid;
- a heat exchanger through which said heated fluid circulates, said heat exchanger being arranged to heat the air in said duct;
- a sensor for sensing blower control parameters including the temperature of the air in said duct and outputting a signal indicative of said blower control parameters;
- and
- a blower associated with said duct and energizable to induce air to flow through said duct;
- the method comprising the steps of:
- energizing said blower at a standby speed in response to said signal indicating that the air being induced to flow in said duct has a temperature below a first predetermined temperature;
- and
- increasing the blower speed to a minimum operational speed when said signal indicates that the duct air temperature has exceeded said first predetermined temperature, said minimum operational speed being substantially greater than said standby speed, and maintaining said blower speed at said minimum operational speed until said signal indicates that said duct air temperature has exceeded a second predetermined temperature greater than said first predetermined temperature;
- and
- deriving an operational speed based on said signal, and controlling said blower to operate at said operational speed, when said signal indicates that said duct air temperature is greater than said second predetermined temperature.
9 more elements
A method of operating an air conditioning unit for a vehicle having a cabin, said air conditioning unit including:
- a duct for inducting air and discharging the inducted air into said cabin;
- a source of heated fluid,
- a heater exchanger through which said heated fluid circulates, said heat exchanger being arranged to heat the air in said duct;
- a sensor for sensing blower control parameters and outputting a signal indicative thereof;
- a blower associated with said duct and energizable to induce air to flow through said duct;
- a first sensor associated with said duct for sensing the temperature of the air in said duct and outputting a first signal indicative of said duct air temperature;
- and
- a second sensor for sensing the temperature of said fluid and outputting a second signal indicative of said fluid temperature;
- method comprising the steps of:
- driving said blower at a standby speed in response to said second signal having a value lower than a first predetermined value representative of a first predetermined temperature;
- increasing the blower speed to a first speed less than said standby speed and energizing said blower at said first speed upon said second sensor signal having a value greater than said first predetermined value and thus indicating that the temperature of said fluid is above said first predetermined temperature;
- increasing the the blower speed to an operational speed derived based on said blower control parameters within a predetermined speed range when said first sensor signal value becomes greater than a second predetermined value representative of a second predetermined temperature which is higher than said first predetermined temperature and thus indicating that the temperature of the air flowing in said duct is above said second predetermined temperature.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.