Mazda Motor Corporation

Naldec Corporation

Diesel Kiki Co., Ltd.

Diesel Kiki K.k.

Matsuda K. K.

Yoshiaki Nagayama

Shigetoshi Doi

Katsumi Iida

Shinshi Kajimoto

Hiroshi Asou

Yasuhiro Enno

Takashi Tsuchida

Toshikazu Ishikawa

Eiji Ukita

Yoshihiko Sakurai

This invention has as its object to provide a method and apparatus for controlling a vehicle air conditioner, which can obtain a combination of an outlet air flow rate V.sub.a and an outlet air temperature T.sub.o, which is desirable for comfort of a passenger, under a condition of air-conditioning control based on a heat balance equation. In order to achieve this object, this invention provides a method of controlling a vehicle air conditioner, including the first step of obtaining, from a heat balance equation, a plurality of combinations of the outlet air flow rates V.sub.a and the outlet air temperatures T.sub.o necessary for maintaining the passenger room temperature to be a predetermined target temperature, the second step of calculating comfort indices each representing the comfort level of a passenger on the basis of state amounts of factors which influence comfort felt by the passenger in the passenger room, and the plurality of combinations of the outlet air flow rates V.sub.a and the outlet air temperatures T.sub.o obtained in the first step, and the third step of searching a combination of the outlet air flow rate and the outlet air temperature, which can provide a comfort index closest to an optimal value of the comfort indices calculated in the second step.

Method and apparatus for controlling vehicle air conditioner

This invention has as its object to provide a method and apparatus for controlling a vehicle air conditioner, which can obtain a combination of an outlet air flow rate V.sub.a and an outlet air temperature T.sub.o, which is desirable for comfort of a passenger, under a condition of air-conditioning control based on a heat balance equation. In order to achieve this object, this invention provides a method of controlling a vehicle air conditioner including the first step of obtaining, from a heat balance equation, a plurality of combinations of the outlet air flow rates V.sub.a and the outlet air temperatures T.sub.o necessary for maintaining the passenger room temperature to be a predetermined target temperature, the second step of calculating comfort indices each representing the comfort level of a passenger on the basis of state amounts of factors which influence comfort felt by the passenger in the passenger room, and the plurality of combinations of the outlet air flow rates V.sub.a and the outlet air temperatures T.sub.o obtained in the first step, and the third step of searching a combination of the outlet air flow rate and the outlet air temperature, which can provide a comfort index closest to an optimal value of the comfort indices calculated in the second step.

An air conditioning system including main and auxiliary cooling units for air conditioning the inside of an automotive vehicle has a compressor, variable in discharge volume, for discharging a compressed refrigerant to the main and auxiliary cooling units. The compressor is controlled to vary its discharge volume, according to a thermal loading on the vehicle, so as to provide conditioning air cooled by the main cooling unit to a desired temperature according to the thermal load. When a demand for cooling from the auxiliary cooling unit is greater than a demand for cooling from the main cooling unit, the compressor is controlled to vary its discharge volume according to the demand for cooling from the auxiliary cooling unit, and vice versa.

Automobile air conditioning system

A control system for an air conditioner for a vehicle effects the switching between a heat mode and a heat/defrost mode on the basis of the ambient temperature and the amount of solar radiation present.

Air conditioner control system for vehicles

An automobile air-conditioning apparatus with air blower control air-conditions the passenger compartment of an automobile by cooling and/or heating air delivered from an air blower into the compartment. During a period in which the compartment starts being cooled, the rate of air flow form the air blower is progressively increased up to an air flow rate in an automatic temperature adjusting mode. The gradient at which the air flow rate is increased is selected dependent on the amount of sunlight applied to the automobile, the temperature of air in the compartment, and the temperature of air at the outlet of an evaporator.

Automobile air-conditioning apparatus with air blower control

The operational temperature TP is determined as a function of the compartment temperature Tr. The blower speed is controlled along the characteristic line, the slope of which varies with the operational temperature TP. When the temperature of engine cooling water reaches a predetermined temperature, the speed of the blower is increased along the slope corresponding to the compartment temperature Tr. When the operational temperature TP is at least the predetermined temperature Tl, the speed of the blower is controlled as a function of time so that any violent increase in the blower speed may be prevented.

Growing community of inventors

Hiroshima, Japan

Yoshiaki Nagayama