Air-conditioning device

Details Air-conditioning device Air-conditioning device

1999-04-21

2001-04-24

McDermott, Corrine (Department: 3744)

Automatic temperature and humidity regulation

Ventilator type

Electrically actuated

C236S09100C, C165S042000, C165S203000, C165S204000, C062S186000, C062S244000, C062S408000, C454S075000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06220517

ABSTRACT:

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is based upon Japanese Patent Applications No. Hei. 10-112435 filed Apr. 22, 1998, No. Hei. 10-115419 filed Apr. 24, 1998, No. Hei. 10-115420 filed Apr. 24, 1998, and No. Hei. 10-117416 filed Apr. 27, 1998, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air-conditioning device for automatically controlling the temperature in a room such as a passenger component of a vehicle or a room in a building.
2. Description of Related Art
Some air-conditioning devices for controlling two or more different air-conditioning zones independently of each other have heretofore been proposed in an air-conditioning device for automobile field. When the temperatures, in a driver seat (Dr) side air-conditioning zone and in a passenger seat (Pa) side air-conditioning zone, are controlled independently, since there is no partition wall between two air-conditioning zones, temperature interference between the two air-conditioning zones may occur.
As an air-conditioning device for automobiles, which is capable of controlling independently between the two air-conditioning zones, Japanese Laid-open Patent No. 7-32854 has proposed. In this air-conditioning device, when a Dr side target blow-out temperature and a Pa side target blow-out temperature are calculated, a calculation term of difference between a Dr side setpoint temperature and a Pa side setpoint temperature are corrected by correction gain, which is decided based on an external temperature, so as to realize desired temperatures in each of the Dr side and Pa side air-conditioning zones.
This air-conditioning device aims to prevent practical temperatures of each zones from deviating from predetermined setpoint temperatures due to an influence of the external temperature, by the correction described the above.
However, the temperature interference between the two air-conditioning zones can not be conjectured only based on the external temperature and the difference between the two setpoint temperatures. Actually, the temperature interference is related to an internal temperature, a blow-out temperature, and an amount of air or the like at every timing. Therefore, the independent temperature controlling can not be operated accurately by only the correction described above.
FIGS. 12A
,
12
B are temperature characteristics of the independent controlling, which are experimentally confirmed.
FIG. 12A
shows a characteristic of a temperature of area in which surrounding passengers when the Pa side setpoint temperature is set to constant and the Dr side setpoint temperature varies from 22° C. to 28° C.
FIG. 12B
shows a characteristic of opposite relation.
As shown in
FIG. 12A
, during a varying of the setpoint temperature of Dr side, the temperature interference, which is a phenomenon, that the temperature of area surrounding passengers in Pa side is dragged by temperature changes of Dr side. Hence, a controllability of temperature of both Dr side and Pa side has no inconvenient.
However, as shown in
FIG. 12B
, when the setpoint temperature of the Pa side is varied, the temperature of area surrounding passengers in Pa side is decreased slightly with respect to normal temperature increasing due to an influence on Dr side. Specifically, when the Pa side setpoint temperature (Tset(Pa))=28° C., the temperature of area surrounding passengers in Pa side reaches only around 25.5° C.
In the Japanese Laid-open Patent No. 7-32854, for the purpose of offsetting the temperature interference, a correction value is calculated by multiplying the difference between two setpoint temperatures, and is added to the target blow-out temperature.
FIGS. 13A
,
13
B are temperature characteristics when this correction is adopted. As shown in
FIG. 13B
, when the Pa side setpoint temperature varies, the control characteristic at the condition where Tset(Pa)=28° C. is improved, however, the correction term influences other conditions to the contrary. This is because the correction term depends on the difference between two setpoint temperatures.
In other words, from the temperature difference point of view, both the condition of which the characteristic should be improved (Dr side setpoint temperature Tset(Dr)=25° C., Pa side setpoint temperature Tset(Pa)=28° C.) and the condition of which the characteristic should be maintained (Tset(Dr)=25° C., Tset(Dr)=22° C.) are the identical (each of them is 3° C.). Therefore, the correction is adapted to other condition.
Then, a disadvantage occurs because the temperature of area surrounding passengers in Pa side is decreased below 22° C., as shown in
FIG. 13B
, in the condition of which the characteristic should be maintained (Tset(Dr)=25° C., Tset(Dr)=22° C.) may occur.
Similarly, as shown in
FIG. 13A
, a disadvantage occurs because the temperature of area surrounding passengers in Pa side is deviated from 25° C. due to temperature varying in Dr side may occur.
FIG. 14A
shows a characteristic of a Dr side correction gain KDr according to the related art described the above. When the external temperature rises from T
1
to T
2
, KDr decreases from K
1
to K
2
. A Pa side correction gain Kpa has a similar characteristic. If the Pa side correction gain Kpa is changed from K
3
to K
4
at external temperature=10° C., since the relation Kpa=K
4
is adopted to other condition during external temperature=10° C., the disadvantage shown in
FIGS. 13A
,
13
B may occur.
Therefore, in order to eliminate the disadvantage, it is necessary to change the Pa side correction gain Kpa to K
4
in only a particular condition, and to maintain the Pa side correction gain with K
3
without change in the other conditions.
In other words, a control logic, which can change the correction gain in only the particular condition, is needed. However, environment conditions, of which the air-conditioning device for automobiles faces, include a wide variety of parameters such as the external temperature, an amount of solar radiation (hereinafter, radiation amount), a speed of the automobile and the like. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to investigate a relationship of factors at which these environment conditions influence to the temperature control characteristic one by one, to quantify the influence of the relationship, and to decide the blow-out temperature control logic corresponds to the influence, because it needs huge processes.
On the other hand, in another conventional automatically control air-conditioning device for vehicles, as shown in Japanese Laid-open Patent No. 6-195323, calculates an air amount by using a neural network based on an internal air temperature and an external air temperature of the vehicle, a setpoint temperature, and a radiation amount.
In this kind of air-conditioning device, during a normal operation after the internal air temperature reaches the setpoint temperature, when a blow-out port mode is either in a FACE mode or in a BI-LEVEL (B/L) mode, the air amount is increased in proportion to the radiation amount so as to increase a cooled air feeling (felt by a driver or a passenger), during high solar radiation.
Here, when the blow-out port mode is in a FOOT mode, since the temperature in a passenger component rises due to the radiation, an increase of amount of conditioned air (hereinafter, air amount) is not needed. Therefore, the air amount is not increased in proportion to the radiation amount.
According to the above-mentioned conventional device, when the air amount is changed in proportion to radiation during a normal operation, the following disadvantage may occur.
The number of output of the air amount, which is calculated by the neural network, is only one independent of the blow-out port mode. Therefore, when the blow-out port mode is switched among the FACE mode, the B/L mode and the FOOT mode, the air amount needs to be changed step by step during high radiation.
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