Sanden Corporation

Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Tomonori Imai

Atsuo Inoue

Kenichi Suzuki

Hideki Watanabe

Hiromitsu Adachi

Shinichirou Wakou

Masato Tsuboi

An air conditioning system for a vehicle includes a hybrid compressor having a first compression mechanism driven by a drive source for driving the vehicle and a second compression mechanism driven by an electric motor, means for selecting a drive source, a means for detecting a refrigeration cycle condition, and means for estimating a power consumption of the compressor due to a selected drive source and a power consumption of the compressor due to a non-selected drive source in response to a value detected by the means for detecting a refrigeration cycle condition, when one drive source has been selected. Through this estimation, an preferred drive source may be selected in response to the condition of the refrigeration cycle or a thermal load.

Air conditioning system for vehicles

An air conditioning system for a vehicle including a first drive source, includes a compressor. The compressor includes a second drive source, and the compressor is driven by the first drive source or the second drive source, or a combination thereof. Moreover, the second drive source includes an electrical power supply. The air conditioning system also includes a controller for selecting the first drive source or the second drive source, or both, for driving the compressor. The controller also controls a rotational speed of the second drive source. Moreover, the air conditioning system also includes a voltmeter or an amp meter for detecting an amount of electrical power consumed by the second drive source. Specifically, when a predetermined condition is satisfied and an amount of electrical power consumed by the second drive source is greater than a first limit for the amount of electrical power which the second drive source may consume, the first limit increases to a second limit.

Air conditioning systems and vehicles comprising such air conditioning systems

An air conditioner for a vehicle uses a hybrid compressor ( ) including a first compression mechanism driven by a first drive source ( ) and a second compression mechanism driven by a second drive source ( ), and a single discharge port connected to the first and the second compression mechanisms. The operation of the hybrid compressor is controlled by a controller ( ) in accordance with a control mode. The controller has a first operation mode in which the first compression mechanism alone is driven, a second operation mode in which the second compression mechanism alone is driven, a third operation mode in which the first and the second compression mechanisms are simultaneously driven, and a fourth operation mode in which the first and the second compression mechanisms are simultaneously stopped. Depending upon various conditions, the controller selects, as the control mode, one of the first, the second, the third, and the fourth operation modes.

Vehicle air conditioner using a hybrid compressor

Growing community of inventors

Isesaki, Japan

Tomonori Imai