Patent Grant
10006684
The present invention generally relates to vehicle air conditioning systems, and more particularly, to over-the-road and off-road vehicle air conditioning systems that can prevent undesired collection of refrigerant in one or more evaporators.
In response to the needs of the transportation industry and the regulations governing the amount of time that a driver may spend behind the wheel, many vehicles include a cab compartment and a sleeper compartment where the driver or passenger can rest. To create a comfortable environment for drivers and passengers, vehicle heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems have been developed to provide conditioned air to the cab and sleeper compartments.
Such vehicle HVAC systems may include multiple evaporators, one for each compartment. For example, a system may include a cab evaporator (e.g., an evaporator associated with the cab compartment to cool the cab compartment) and a sleeper evaporator (e.g., an evaporator associated with the sleeper compartment to cool the sleeper compartment). Such systems may also include multiple compressors connected to different power sources so that the vehicle HVAC systems can be operated when the engine of the vehicle is on and when it is off.
To meet a specific cooling demand and reduce waste of compressed and condensed refrigerant, the systems may be operated to allow the compressed and condensed refrigerant to pass through one or more of the evaporators while restricting the condensed refrigerant from passing through other evaporator(s). For example, in a case where cooling in the sleeper compartment is not desired (e.g., the sleeper compartment is not occupied), the systems may be operated to restrict the refrigerant from passing through the sleeper evaporator to reduce waste of the compressed and condensed refrigerant on an unoccupied compartment. Similarly, in a case where cooling in the cab compartment is not desired, the systems may be operated to restrict the refrigerant from passing through the cab compartment.
While restricting the refrigerant from passing through the non-operating evaporator or evaporators (e.g., the sleeper evaporator when cooling in the sleeper compartment is not desired or the cab evaporator where cooling in the cab compartment is not desired), conventional systems cannot prevent the collection or accumulation of the refrigerant in the non-operating evaporator(s), in particular at the lower pressure side of the non-operating evaporator(s). The collection or accumulation of the refrigerant in the non-operating evaporator(s) reduces the effective amount of the refrigerant that should be used to cool the compartment(s) in need of cooling, making it difficult to meet (in some circumstances, only partially meet) the cooling demand. Consequently, the cooling capacity and overall efficiency of the HVAC systems are reduced, and the operational costs are increased.
Given the above background, there is a need in the art for air conditioning systems with enhanced cooling efficiency and capacity that provide conditioned air to multiple compartments and that prevent undesired collection of refrigerant in non-operating evaporators.
The information disclosed in this Background section is provided for an understanding of the general background of the invention and is not an acknowledgement or suggestion that this information forms part of the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.
Various aspects of the present invention provide air conditioning systems with enhanced cooling efficiency and capacity that provide conditioned air to multiple compartments and that prevent the undesired collection of refrigerant in non-operating evaporators.
In one embodiment, the present invention provides an air conditioning system for use in a vehicle having two or more compartments. The air conditioning system includes at least one compressor, a condenser disposed downstream of the at least one compressor, a plurality of evaporators disposed downstream of the condenser, a plurality of shut-off valves and refrigerant lines. The refrigerant lines fluidly connect the at least one compressor, the condenser, and the plurality of evaporators to form a refrigerant circuit for circulating the refrigerant.
In a preferred embodiment, the plurality of evaporators includes a first evaporator and a second evaporator fluidly coupled to each other in parallel. When implemented in the vehicle, the first evaporator is in thermal communication with a first compartment of the vehicle to cool the first compartment and the second evaporator is in thermal communication with a second compartment of the vehicle to cool the second compartment. The plurality of shut-off valves includes a first shut-off valve and a second shut-off valve. The first shut-off valve is installed at a refrigerant inlet of the first evaporator and the second shut-off valve is installed at a refrigerant outlet of the first evaporator. The first and second shut-off valves are controlled to prevent refrigerant from collecting in the first evaporator. In some embodiments, the first and second shut-off valves are controlled to prevent refrigerant from collecting in the first evaporator when airflow over or through the first evaporator is less than a first predetermined volume.
In some embodiments, the air conditioning system further includes a first sensor and a controller electrically coupled to the first sensor and the first and second shot-off valves. The first sensor is configured to perform one or more of the following: (i) measure temperature of the first evaporator and (ii) measure airflow passing over the first evaporator. The controller is configured to control the operation of the first and second shut-off valves in accordance with the measured temperature or the measured airflow or both. In some embodiments, the controller is configured to automatically close the first and second shut-off valves when the measured temperature of the first evaporator is lower than a first predetermined temperature, or when the measured airflow passing over the first evaporator is less than a first predetermined volume, and to automatically open the first and second shut-off valves when the measured temperature of the first evaporator exceeds the first predetermined temperature, or when the measured airflow passing over the first evaporator is equal to or greater than the first predetermined volume. In an embodiment, the method includes manually and selectively opening or closing the first and second shut-off valves in accordance with temperature of the first evaporator or airflow passing over the first evaporator.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides an air conditioning system for use in a vehicle having two or more compartments. The air conditioning system includes at least one compressor, a condenser disposed downstream of the at least one compressor, a plurality of evaporators disposed downstream of the condenser, a plurality of shut-off valves, refrigerant lines, a first sensor and a controller. The refrigerant lines fluidly connect the at least one compressor, the condenser, and the plurality of evaporators to form a refrigerant circuit for circulating the refrigerant.
In one embodiment, the plurality of evaporators includes a first evaporator and a second evaporator fluidly coupled to each other in parallel. The plurality of shut-off valves includes a first shut-off valve and a second shut-off valve. The first shut-off valve is installed at a refrigerant inlet of the first evaporator and the second shut-off valve is installed at a refrigerant outlet of the first evaporator. The first sensor is configured to perform one or more of the following: (i) measure temperature of the first evaporator and (ii) measure airflow passing over the first evaporator. The controller is electrically coupled to the first sensor and configured to control the operation of the first and second shut-off valves in accordance with the measured temperature or the measured airflow or both. In some embodiments, the controller is configured to automatically close the first and second shut-off valves when the measured temperature of the first evaporator is lower than a first predetermined temperature, or when the measured airflow passing over the first evaporator is less than a first predetermined volume, and to automatically open the first and second shut-off valves when the measured temperature of the first evaporator exceeds the first predetermined temperature, or when the measured airflow passing over the first evaporator is equal to or greater than the first predetermined volume.
In an embodiment, the plurality of shut-off valves includes a third shut-off valve and a fourth shut-off valve. The third shut-off valve is installed at a refrigerant inlet of the second evaporator and the fourth shut-off valve is installed at a refrigerant outlet of the second evaporator to prevent refrigerant from collecting in the second evaporator. In some embodiments, the third shut-off valve and the fourth shut-off valve are controlled to prevent refrigerant from collecting in the second evaporator when airflow over the second evaporator is less than a second predetermined volume. In some embodiments, the system includes a second sensor configured to perform one or more of the following: (iii) measure temperature of the second evaporator and (iv) measure airflow passing over the second evaporator. In some embodiments, the controller is electrically coupled to the second sensor and configured to control the operation of the third and fourth shut-off valves in accordance with the measured temperature and the measured airflow. In some embodiments, the controller is configured to automatically close the third and fourth shut-off valves when the measured temperature of the second evaporator is lower than a second predetermined temperature, or when the measured airflow passing over the second evaporator is less than a second predetermined volume, and to automatically open the third and fourth shut-off valves when the measured temperature of the second evaporator exceeds the second predetermined temperature, or when the measured airflow passing over the second evaporator is equal to or greater than the second predetermined volume.
The systems of the present invention have other features and advantages that will be apparent from or are set forth in more detail in the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein, and the following Detailed Description, which together serve to explain certain principles of the present invention.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one or more embodiments of the present application and, together with the detailed description, serve to explain the principles and implementations of the application.
Reference will now be made in detail to implementations of the present application as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The same reference indicators will be used throughout the drawings and the following detailed description to refer to the same or like parts. Those of ordinary skill in the art will realize that the following detailed description of the present application is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Other embodiments of the present application will readily suggest themselves to such skilled persons having benefit of this disclosure.
In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of the implementations described herein are shown and described. It will, of course, be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made in order to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as compliance with application- and business-related constraints, and that these specific goals will vary from one implementation to another and from one developer to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of engineering for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.
Many modifications and variations of this disclosure can be made without departing from its spirit and scope, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The specific embodiments described herein are offered by way of example only, and the disclosure is to be limited only by the terms of the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.
Embodiments of the present invention are described in the context of air conditioning systems for use in vehicles, and in particular, in the context of air conditioning systems to cool different compartments or different spaces of an over-the-road or off-road vehicle. The vehicle can be a car, a van, a truck, a bus, a trailer, or other automobiles.
Generally, an air conditioning system of the present invention includes at least one compressor, a condenser, a plurality of evaporators and refrigerant lines. The refrigerant lines fluidly connect the compressor, condenser and evaporators to form a refrigerant circuit. The air conditioning system of the present invention also includes a plurality of shut-off valves disposed at the refrigerant circuit to prevent undesired collection of refrigerant in one or more of the evaporators, and thus enhance the cooling effect or capacity of the HVAC systems. In some embodiments, the air conditioning system of the present invention includes a controller electrically coupled to the shut-off valves to control the operation of the valves. In some embodiments, the controller is electrically coupled to other components of the air conditioning system (e.g., a compressor or a condenser or both) to control operation of these components.
By way of illustration,
In the illustrated embodiment, the first and second compressors (102, 104) are fluidly connected to each other in parallel by refrigerant lines (140-5, 140-6) and are configured for compressing a refrigerant. In some embodiments, the first compressor (102) is configured to connect to an internal combustion engine of the vehicle and is driven through a belt and pulley system by the internal combustion engine when the internal combustion engine is running. In some embodiments, the second compressor (104) is configured to operate when the internal combustion engine (134) of the vehicle is not running, for example, by connecting to an electrical power source (136) such as a battery. With the first and second compressors (102, 104) in place, the air conditioning system of the present invention can be operated when the engine is on as well as when the engine is off. In some embodiments, the first and second compressors (102, 104) are belt-driven compressors, electrically-driven compressors, or any other suitable compressors.
In some embodiments, an air conditioning system of the present invention has one compressor. For example, as illustrated in
Turning back to
The first and second evaporators (108, 110) are disposed downstream of the condenser (106) and fluidly connected to the condenser (106) by a refrigerant line (140-2). The first and second evaporators (108, 110) are fluidly coupled to each other in parallel via refrigerant lines (140-3, 140-4) and configured to evaporate the condensed refrigerant. The first shut-off valve (112) is installed at the refrigerant inlet of the first evaporator (108), and the second shut-off valve (114) is installed at the refrigerant out of the first evaporator (108).
As used herein, the term “refrigerant inlet” refers to an inlet of a corresponding evaporator and a portion of a refrigerant line upstream of the corresponding evaporator. As used herein, the term “refrigerant outlet” refers to an outlet of a corresponding evaporator and a portion of a refrigerant line downstream of the corresponding evaporator. For example, refrigerant inlet of the first evaporator refers to the inlet of the first evaporator (108) and a portion of the refrigerant line (140-3) upstream of the first evaporator (108). Refrigerant outlet of the first evaporator (108) refers to the outlet of the first evaporator (108) and a portion of the refrigerant line (140-3) downstream of the first evaporator (108).
In some embodiments, the first evaporator (108) is in thermal communication with a first compartment and the second evaporator (110) is in thermal communication with a second compartment to cool the first and second compartments. As used herein, the term “in thermal communication” refers to one or more of the following: (i) the respective evaporator is mounted within a corresponding compartment to exchange heat with that compartment or with the air in that compartment, and (ii) the respective evaporator is coupled with a device (e.g., heat exchanger or air blower) which introduces conditioned air into that compartment.
In some embodiments, the first evaporator (108) is mounted in the first compartment and the second evaporator (110) is mounted in the second compartment. In some embodiments, the first compartment can be separated from the second compartment, for example, by a wall or other barrier such as a curtain. In some embodiments, the first compartment and the second compartment are different areas within the same space. In some embodiments, the first compartment is a cab compartment, a sleeper compartment, or any other compartment in a vehicle.
As an example,
When cooling is desired in both cab and sleeper compartments, first and second shut-off valves (112, 114) are opened, either manually or automatically, so that the condensed refrigerant flows through both the first and second evaporators (108, 110) and provides cooling to both the cab and sleeper compartments. When cooling is only desired in the sleeper compartment (e.g., when the vehicle is parked and no one is in the cab compartment), the first and second shut-off valves (112, 114) are closed. Since the first and second shut-off valves (112, 114) are installed at both the refrigerant inlet and outlet of the first evaporator (108), closing the first and second shut-off valves (112, 114) prevents the refrigerant from entering the first evaporator (108) from both sides and thus prevents the refrigerant from collecting or accumulating in the first evaporator (108). As a result, the condensed refrigerant flows only through the second evaporator (110) and thus enhances the cooling effect of the second evaporator (110).
As another example,
In some embodiments, the first and second shut-off valves are operated (e.g., opened or closed) manually, for example, by a driver of the vehicle who desires more cooling in a compartment/area or wants no cooling at all in the compartment/area. In some embodiments, the first or second shut-off valve or both are operated automatically, for example, by a controller (132). In some embodiments, operating the first and second shut-off valves depends on other parameters or operations of other components in the air conditioning system. For example, when airflow over the first evaporator is less than a first predetermined volume (e.g., indicating cooling is undesired in the compartment associated with the first evaporator), the first and second shut-off valves are manually or automatically closed to prevent refrigerant from collecting in the first evaporator. The first predetermined volume can be preset or reset in accordance with the type of vehicle, compartments associated with the first evaporator, preference of the drivers/operators/passengers, ambient temperature or other parameters. In an example, the first predetermined volume is at most 75 Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM), indicating cooling is undesired in the compartment associated with the first evaporator.
In some embodiments, an air conditioning system of the present invention includes more than two shut-off valves. As an example,
Like the first and second shut-off valves (112, 114), operation of the third and fourth shut-off valves (302, 304) can depend on other parameters or operations of other components in the air conditioning system. In some embodiments, the first, second, third and fourth shut-off valves are selectively and independently controlled. For example, when airflow over the second evaporator is less than a second predetermined volume (e.g., indicating cooling is undesired in the compartment associated with the second evaporator), the third and fourth shut-off valves are manually or automatically closed to prevent refrigerant from collecting in the second evaporator. Like the first predetermined volume, the second predetermined volume can be preset or reset in accordance with the type of vehicle, compartments associated with the second evaporator, desire of drivers/operators, or other parameters. The second predetermined volume can be the same as or different from the first predetermined volume. In an example, the second predetermined volume is at most 75 Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM), indicating cooling is undesired in the compartment associated with the second evaporator.
Turning back to
The first sensor (128) is configured to perform one or more of the following: (i) measure temperature of the first evaporator (108) and (ii) measure the airflow passing over the first evaporator (108). When the measured temperature is lower than a first predetermined temperature, or the measured airflow passing over the first evaporator (108) is less than the first predetermined volume (e.g., 75 CFM), or both, the controller (132) automatically closes or sends instruction to close the first and second shut-off valves (112, 114). When the measured temperature exceeds the first predetermined temperature or when the measured airflow passing over the first evaporator is equal to or greater than the first predetermined volume, the controller (132) automatically opens or sends instruction to open the first and second shut-off valves (112, 114). In some embodiments, the controller (132) is electrically coupled to one or more other components in the air conditioning system. For example, in one embodiment, the controller (132) is electrically coupled to the first compressor (102) or the second compressor (104) or both to automatically control the operation of the compressors in accordance with ambient temperature, operation of the engine, the cooling demand of the compartments of the vehicle, or other parameters.
In some embodiments, the air conditioning system (100) of the present invention includes a plurality of control valves to selectively restrict or permit flow of the refrigerant to the compressors. As an example,
In some embodiments, the air conditioning system (100) of the present invention includes a plurality of metering devices to control flow of the refrigerant into the evaporators. As an example,
In some embodiments, the air conditioning system (100) of the present invention includes a receiver/drier (120). The receiver/drier (120) is disposed at the refrigerant line (104-3) between the condenser (106) and the evaporators (108, 110). The receiver/drier (120) is configured to temporarily store the refrigerant, absorb moisture from the refrigerant, or both.
In some embodiments, the air conditioning system (100) of the present invention includes a plurality of air blowers to enhance the performance of some components in the air conditioning system. As an example,
Referring now to
In some embodiments, an air conditioning system of the present invention includes more than two evaporators. As an example,
In some embodiments, the air conditioning system (400) includes the first and second shut-off valves (112, 114) installed at the refrigerant inlet and outlet of the first evaporator (108) to prevent undesired collection of the refrigerant in the first evaporator (108). In some embodiments, the air conditioning system (400) further includes the third and fourth shut-off valves, such as those (302, 304) illustrated in
In some embodiments, an air conditioning system of the present invention is electrically, fluidly, thermally or mechanically coupled with other components, devices or systems. For example, an air conditioning system (e.g., 100, 200, 300, or 400) of the present invention is combined with a heating system to form a combined heating and cooling air conditioning system. The combination of an air conditioning system with a heating system can be achieved in a similar way as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,517,087, which is expressly incorporated by reference in their entirety, and in particular with reference to the heating system.
As another example, an air conditioning system (e.g., 100, 200, 300, or 400) of the present invention is coupled to a vehicle ventilation module to provide conditioned fresh air to the desired compartment(s). The vehicle ventilation module can be the same as or similar to those described in U.S. Publication No. 2014/0262132, which is expressly incorporated by reference in their entirety, and in particular with reference to the vehicle ventilation module.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular implementations only and is not intended to be limiting of the claims. As used in the description of the implementations and the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be understood that, although the terms “first,” “second,” etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first evaporator could be termed a second evaporator, and, similarly, a second evaporator could be termed a first evaporator, without changing the meaning of the description, so long as all occurrences of the “first evaporator” are renamed consistently and all occurrences of the “second evaporator” are renamed consistently.
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