Ventilation – Vehicle – Condensation preventer
Reexamination Certificate
2002-01-15
2003-12-09
Boles, Derek (Department: 3749)
Ventilation
Vehicle
Condensation preventer
C454S126000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06659858
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS
The right of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) is claimed based on German Patent Application No. 101 01 700.6, filed Feb. 15, 2001, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method and arrangement for regulating air mixing in a heating and/or air-conditioning system of a motor vehicle.
DE 196 32 059 A1 discloses an air-conditioning system and a method for operating the air-conditioning system, in which recirculated air is added, as required, to fresh air supplied in order to optimize the energy consumption of the air-conditioning system. Depending on the time of year and on settings of the air-conditioning system, the recirculated air is already partly cooled or heated, and accordingly energy can therefore be saved by adding recirculated air because the feed air mix is thereby precooled or preheated to some extent. The recirculated air generally has a higher moisture content, mainly because of the emission of moisture by the vehicle occupants. Consequently, according to DE 196 32 059 A1, moisture sensors for determining the humidity of the air in the passenger compartment are provided, so that the humidity of the air mix supplied to the passenger compartment remains limited by limiting the amount of recirculated air that is added to the input air stream.
A disadvantage of this method is that recirculated air is continuously added, even if not necessary, and as a result the humidity of the air mix is essentially always at the upper limit value. In addition, in order to carry out this known method, a number of temperature and humidity sensors are necessary, which result in additional costs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
One principal object of the present invention is to provide for further optimizing of the energy consumption in an automotive heating/air-conditioning system. A further object of the invention is to provide a method and apparatus configured in a simpler manner and permitting a simpler and therefore more cost-effective arrangement for regulating the amount of air mixing.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there has been provided a method for regulating air mixing in a heating and/or air-conditioning system of a motor vehicle having a passenger compartment, comprising: supplying at least one of recirculated air and fresh air to an air-guiding housing; conditioning the supplied air in the housing; distributing conditioned air to different locations in the passenger compartment by means of air-flow control elements; and controlling the proportion of recirculated air supplied as a function of the position of at least one of the air-flow control elements.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided an arrangement for regulating air mixing in a heating and/or air-conditioning system of a motor vehicle having a passenger compartment, comprising: an air-guiding housing having at least one recirculated-air intake opening and at least one fresh-air intake opening; an intake air control element for selectively supplying at least one of recirculated air and fresh air to the housing; a fan and at least one heat exchanger positioned in the housing for conditioning the supplied air; a plurality of distributing air-flow control elements for distributing conditioned air from the housing to different locations in the passenger compartment; and a control unit for controlling the proportion of recirculated air supplied by the intake air-flow control element as a function of the position of at least one of the distribution air-flow control elements.
Further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description of preferred embodiments that follows, when considered together with the accompanying figures of drawing.
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Kemle Andreas
Moellert Thorsten
Riegel Harald
Schweizer Gebhard
Behr GmbH & Co.
Boles Derek
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