Refrigeration – With vehicle feature – Occupant-type vehicle
Reexamination Certificate
2002-02-14
2003-04-01
Tapolcai, William E. (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
With vehicle feature
Occupant-type vehicle
C323S288000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06539739
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automobile air conditioner having a motor-driven compressor driven by an electric power from a direct-current power source.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 9
is a block diagram of a conventional automobile air conditioner having a motor-driven compressor driven by an electric power from a direct-current power source. To drive a motor-driven compressor
14
, an output unit
11
(generally known as inverter circuit) converts a direct-current supply voltage into an alternating-current driving voltage. A capacitor
7
is provided to suppress the ripple voltage of the direct-current power source. When a circuit breaker
3
is closed, this capacitor
7
of a large capacity is charged from a battery
1
by way of fuse
2
, circuit breaker
3
, diode
4
and resistor
5
. The diode
4
is intended to protect the circuit so that the current may not flow in case the battery
1
is connected in wrong polarity.
A controller
10
receives a command for operating the motor-driven compressor
14
from an air conditioner controller
12
, and confirms the charge voltage of the capacitor
7
detected by a voltage detector
8
. When the voltage of the capacitor
7
has reached a specified value, the controller
10
closes a relay
6
. Consequently, the output unit
11
provides with a driving voltage, and drives the motor-driven compressor
14
. A 12-volt power source of the controller
10
is supplied from the power source
13
. Although not shown, a switching power supply unit
9
converts the voltage of the battery
1
, and supplies the converted voltage to the output unit
11
and voltage detector
8
.
On the other hand, when receiving a stop command of the motor-driven compressor
14
from the air conditioner controller
12
, the controller
10
stops the output from the output unit
11
, and opens the relay
6
.
In the conventional configuration, when checking or repairing the air conditioner, first, the circuit breaker
3
is opened, and the capacitor
7
is allowed to discharge. After the electric charge is discharged sufficiently, checking or repairing can be started. In this case, the electric charge accumulated in the capacitor
7
is discharged as it is consumed by the switching power supply unit
9
. This discharging, however, takes a long time because the load is light.
To shorten the discharge time, with the circuit breaker
3
being opened, the controller
10
can discharge the capacitor
7
by driving the motor-driven compressor
14
by means of the output unit
11
. In this case, the discharge speed is faster, but the following problems are involved.
1. The motor-driven compressor
14
must be connected.
2. Complicated software for driving the motor-driven compressor
14
is needed. It is difficult to realize this method by a hardware circuit instead of using this software.
3. The power source
13
must be connected to the controller
10
.
Moreover, a method of using other discharge resistance is known, but this method requires a discharge resistor of a large current rating, and hence the equipment size is increased.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is devised in the light of such conventional problems. The automobile air conditioner of the invention comprises a direct-current power source, a power feeding device connected in series to the direct-current power source, a switching device connected in parallel to the power feeding device, a first capacitor charged through the power feeding device from the direct-current power source, an output unit for driving a motor-driven compressor for air conditioning by receiving electric power from the switching device, a discharge circuit for discharging the electric charge in the first capacitor through the power feeding device, and a controller for controlling the discharge circuit.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5371645 (1994-12-01), Mochizuki
patent: 5408842 (1995-04-01), Goto et al.
patent: 5428967 (1995-07-01), Goto et al.
patent: 5714806 (1998-02-01), Goto et al.
patent: 5811948 (1998-09-01), Sato et al.
patent: 5982161 (1999-11-01), Nguyen et al.
patent: 6163088 (2000-12-01), Codina et al.
patent: 6181539 (2001-01-01), Maejima et al.
patent: 6201714 (2001-03-01), Liang
patent: 6259235 (2001-07-01), Fraidlin et al.
patent: 6278910 (2001-08-01), Miura et al.
patent: 6384558 (2002-05-01), Yoshida et al.
Goto Naomi
Kurahashi Yasufumi
Nishii Nobuyuki
LandOfFree
Automobile air conditioner does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Automobile air conditioner, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Automobile air conditioner will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3058629