Data processing: generic control systems or specific application – Generic control system – apparatus or process – Optimization or adaptive control
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-28
2002-12-24
Black, Thomas (Department: 2121)
Data processing: generic control systems or specific application
Generic control system, apparatus or process
Optimization or adaptive control
C700S299000, C700S300000, C700S028000, C706S014000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06498958
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
The present invention is related to, and claims priority from, Japanese Patent Application No. Hei. 11-28806 filed on Feb. 5, 1999, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to air-conditioning systems and, more particularly, to an apparatus for calculating a controlled variable, such as airflow (blower speed), based on n detected variables including outside (ambient) air temperature, interior (cabin) temperature, and amount of sunlight (sun load).
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional automated climate control (ACC) system typically controls airflow, air temperature at the air distribution ductr exit, or other variables according to environmental conditions such as outside air temperature, interior temperature, and amount of sunlight. Control characteristics for calculating a controlled variable, such as airflow or the temperature at the air distribution duct exit (outlet temperature), from environmental conditions are typically adjusted for each vehicle and stored in a non-volatile system memory such as a ROM, and therefore are usually impossible to modify once they are stored.
Systems utilizing such control characteristics have certain limitations. For example, to control airflow in a system in which the control characteristics are unalterable, sensors that detect outside air temperature, interior temperature, and amount of sunlight generate signals representative of the measured amounts. The airflow is calculated based on these three input signals according to the aforementioned control characteristics, and operation of a blower is controlled to achieve the calculated airflow.
FIG. 15
is a cooling airflow control characteristic map showing one example of control characteristics used to calculate airflow. In this case, the outside air temperature and the amount of sunlight are regarded as constant. Only the interior temperature is varied.
As the interior temperature approaches the set temperature (25° C. in this example), the airflow is minimized. As the interior temperature rises above the set temperature, the airflow is increased. The flow rate is maximized around 50° C. Where plural input signals are used, a similar map is typically utilized in calculating the controlled variable based on the control characteristics.
In a conventional control procedure using a map based on plural input signals (assuming that there are two input signals; that is, airflow is calculated from both interior temperature and amount of sunlight), as shown in
FIG. 16
, airflow corresponds to a point (x, y) on a plane that is determined by the interior temperature (x) and the amount of sunlight (y). However, it is unrealistic to make the airflow correspond to every point (x, y) on the plane that is determined by the interior temperature (x) and the amount of sunlight (y), i.e., the entire input space.
Therefore, as shown in
FIG. 16
, the input space is divided into subspaces orcells. Each airflow value corresponds to the intersections of lines indicating boundaries between the cells. Airflow corresponding to a point inside a cell is found by bilinear interpolation.
In the example shown in
FIG. 16
, if two input signals indicating the interior temperature (x) and the amount of sunlight (y), respectively, are entered, a decision is made to determine to what cell a point A(x, y) on a plane determined by the interior temperature (x) and the amount of sunlight (y) belongs. Bilinear interpolation is performed, based on four vertices (x
0
, y
0
), (x
1
, y
0
), (x
0
, y
1
), and (x
1
, y
1
) defining the cell and on the stored airflow value corresponding to the four vertices.
If blw
00
, blw
10
, blw
01
, and blw
11
represent airflows corresponding to the four vertices (x
0
, y
0
), (x
1
, y
0
), (x
0
, y
1
), and (x
1
, y
1
), respectively, the algorithm of this bilinear interpolation is as follows. First, X and Y are calculated using Eqs.(1) and (2).
X
=
x
-
x
0
x
1
-
x
0
(
1
)
Y
=
y
-
y
0
y
1
-
y
0
(
2
)
An airflow blw corresponding to the point A(x, y) is calculated using Eq. (3).
blw
=(1
−X
)(1
−Y
)×
blw
00
+X
(1
−Y
)
blw
10
+(
X−
1)
Y×blw
01
+XY×blw
11
(3)
It should be noted that, although the above description is based on two input signals, calculations can be performed by a similar procedure if there are three or more input signals.
Generally, preset control characteristics based on the above conventional technique are embodied as relations of the vertices of a subspace in an input space to airflows at the vertices. Since bilinear interpolation is used for calculation of a controlled variable based on the preset control characteristics, the amount of required calculations increases with increasing the number of input signals.
In the above conventional air conditioning system, if a system user is dissatisfied with the automatically controlled airflow, the user must typically manually adjust the airflow through a switch or the like. This manual control can enable the system to store. teacher data that can be utilized to update the preset control characteristics favored by the user.
Use of such teacher data will now be explained based on the following example. Preferred airflows of three panelists (users) N, T, and Y during cooling are illustrated in
FIGS. 17A-17C
, which show the relation of the interior temperature to preferred airflows of users N, T, and Y where the amount of sunlight is kept at 500 W/m
2
.
FIG. 17A
shows the case in which the outside air temperature is 20° C.
FIG. 17B
shows the case in which the outside air temperature is 30° C.
FIG. 17C
shows the case in which the outside air temperature is 35° C.
FIG. 18
simplifies the results shown in FIG.
17
B. As can be seen, the preferred airflows of panelists (or users) N, T, and Y relative to various interior temperatures appear as a gradient of a cooling airflow control characteristic line from the maximum airflow to the minimum airflow shown in the map of FIG.
15
. To realize control favored by each user by the learning of the control characteristics, it is necessary to vary the gradient of the control characteristic map lines. For example, where the airflow is controlled based on the map illustrating the preset control characteristics between the interior temperature and airflow as shown in
FIGS. 19A and 19B
, if the user reduces the airflow at interior temperature T
1
and increases the airflow at interior temperature T
2
, as shown in
FIG. 19A
, the map is modified to the form shown in FIG.
19
B. That is, a gradient is given to the characteristic line such that it passes through the modified airflows at the interior temperatures T
1
and T
2
at which the modifications were made.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-149602 discloses a learning technique for household air-conditioning system control characteristics. This technique modifies the control characteristics only the vicinity of teacher data by adding the difference between the present control and the teacher data, as illustrated in FIG.
20
. Therefore, it is impossible to realize control of the airflow in a favorable manner for the user under all environmental conditions.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-172143 discloses a technique for learning an airflow upper limit at the start of operation of an ACC based on outside air temperature and amount of sunlight. In this disclosed technique, outside air temperature is accepted as an input signal. The graphed mapped control characteristics are used to calculate the airflow upper limit, and are modified according to the single input signal. Although the gradient of the graphed control characteristics are modified, the map is associated with only one input signal. Therefore, with respect to the amount of sunlight, either one of two kinds of maps is used, depending on whether the amount of sunlight is greater or smaller than a threshold.
The above situation is illustrat
Kawai Takayoshi
Samukawa Katsuhiko
Tateishi Masahiko
Barnes Crystal J.
Black Thomas
Denso Corporation
Law Offices of David G. Posz
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