US 5,626,186 AGranted

Air conditioning apparatus for vehicles

AssigneeNippondenso Co., Ltd.

InventorsYuji Honda, Tomotsugu Terada, Katsuhiko Samukawa

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Abstract

An air-conditioning apparatus for a passenger compartment of a vehicle includes an air duct having an inlet for receiving air to be conditioned, an air conditioner, and both face and foot outlets for supplying conditioned air into the passenger compartment. The air conditioner controls temperatures of the conditioned air from the face outlet and the foot outlet independently. The required temperature of the conditioned air from the independently controlled foot and face outlets is computed based on an inside air temperature, an outside air temperature, and the temperature set in the passenger compartment. A target supply air-temperature is computed in a bi-level mode based on an amount of sunlight in the passenger compartment, and is corrected as between the foot and face outlets such that air from the face outlet compensates for temperature differentials as between the passenger's feet and face due to sunlight, etc. In this way, a linear relationship is maintained between the correction amount of the temperature of the conditioned air and the temperature a passenger feels in the bi-level mode.

Claims12

Dependent claims

An air conditioning apparatus for a vehicle having a passenger compartment, said apparatus comprising:

an air duct forming an air passage therein, said air duct comprising:
an inlet for receiving air to be conditioned,
a face outlet, directed to an upper portion of said passenger compartment, to supply conditioned air into said passenger compartment, and
a foot outlet, directed to a lower portion of said passenger compartment, to supply conditioned air into said passenger compartment;
a blower for blowing air in said air passage;
temperature setting means for setting a target temperature in said passenger compartment;
temperature adjusting means for controlling independently a first temperature of conditioned air blown out from said face air outlet and a second temperature of conditioned air blown out from said foot air outlet;
an inside air temperature sensor for detecting an inside air temperature of said passenger compartment;
a sunlight sensor for detecting an amount of sunlight entering said passenger compartment;
required air temperature computing means for computing a required temperature of air blown into said passenger compartment based at least on a deviation between said target temperature set by said temperature setting means and said inside air temperature detected by said inside air temperature sensor;
face target air temperature computing means for computing, in a bi-level mode of said air conditioning apparatus wherein air is blown out from both said face air outlet and said foot air outlet, a face target air temperature of air blown from said face air outlet, said face target air temperature being lowered in accordance with a corresponding increase of said amount of sunlight detected by said sunlight sensor;
face target air temperature correcting means for correcting said face target air temperature to be higher in accordance with an increase of a volume of said air blown out from said face air outlet;
and
face air temperature control means for controlling, in said bi-level mode of said air conditioning apparatus, said temperature adjusting means to set said first temperature to said face target air temperature;
foot air temperature control means for controlling, in said bi-level mode of said air conditioning apparatus, said temperature adjusting means to set said second temperature to said required air temperature computed by said required air temperature computing means.

12 more elements

An air conditioning apparatus for a vehicle having a passenger compartment, said apparatus comprising:

an air duct forming an air passage therein, said air duct comprising:
an inlet for receiving air to be conditioned,
a face outlet, directed to an upper portion of said passenger compartment, to supply conditioned air into said passenger compartment, and
a foot outlet, directed to a lower portion of said passenger compartment, to supply conditioned air into said passenger compartment;
a blower for blowing air in said air passage;
temperature setting means for setting a target temperature in said passenger compartment;
temperature adjusting means for controlling independently a first temperature of conditioned air blown out from said face air outlet and a second temperature of conditioned air blown out from said foot air outlet;
an inside air temperature sensor for detecting an inside air temperature of said passenger compartment;
a sunlight sensor for detecting an amount of sunlight entering said passenger compartment;
required air temperature computing means for computing a required temperature of air blown into said passenger compartment based at least on a deviation between said target temperature set by said temperature setting means and said inside air temperature detected by said inside air temperature sensor;
face target air temperature computing means for computing, in a bi-level mode of said air conditioning apparatus wherein air is blown out from both said face air outlet and said foot air outlet, a face target air temperature of air blown from said face air outlet, said face target air temperature being lowered in accordance with a corresponding decrease of said target temperature set by said temperature setting means;
face target air temperature correcting means for correcting said face target air temperature to be higher in accordance with an increase of a volume of said air blown out from said face air outlet;
and
face air temperature control means for controlling, in said bi-level mode of said air conditioning apparatus, said temperature adjusting means to set said first temperature to said face target air temperature;
foot air temperature control means for controlling, in said bi-level mode of said air conditioning apparatus, said temperature adjusting means to set said second temperature to said required air temperature computed by said required air temperature computing means.

12 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.