Patent Application
20190054799
The disclosed inventive concept relates generally to heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems for vehicles. More particularly, the disclosed inventive concept relates to a two-door HVAC air intake design strategy for an automotive vehicle that optimizes power consumption while providing for a desirable level of recirculated air. The passage of air is regulated by a pair of rotary doors. One of the rotary doors alternatively regulates the passage of fresh air and recirculated air. The other rotary door regulates only the passage of recirculated air. The two-door HVAC air design provides for three settings including a fresh air setting in which both doors are closed, a partial recirculated air setting in which one of the doors is closed and one of the door is open, and a full recirculation setting in which both doors are open. The rotary doors may be shell doors or flap doors.
A goal of automobile manufacturers has long been improved fuel economy for internal combustion engines. The development of the electric vehicle (EV) and the hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) also requires automobile manufacturers to reduce vehicle power consumption and accelerate passenger cabin heating.
Consistent with these goals, one of the challenges faced by automobile manufacturers is a way to maintain optimum environmental conditions within the vehicle cabin while minimizing vehicle energy consumption. Conventionally, the comfort within the vehicle cabin is maintained by both vehicle heating and cooling systems. Early automobiles relied upon incoming fresh air for both heating and cooling. Today's vehicle no longer conventionally relies solely upon incoming fresh air in this manner for optimum cabin conditions with minimum energy consumption. Instead, in the modern vehicle, the recirculation mode has been introduced into heating and cooling system technologies. These systems provide for the interior air recirculation mode.
To achieve this goal, the amount of outside air brought into the cabin must be minimized and the amount of cabin air being recirculated must be maximized. Ideally, the power consumption will be minimized when 100% cabin air recirculation is used. However, in the case of cooler ambient temperatures, 100% cabin air recirculation may cause the fogging of the inner surfaces of the vehicle's windows (including the windshield) results. Consequently, an amount of outside air is needed to be brought into the vehicle to prevent cabin interior fogging. However, a full fresh air mode in cold weather results in a reduction of heater/defroster performance. If a full fresh air mode is selected in hot weather, an increased cooling load will be imposed on the air conditioning compressor.
In response to the need to optimize interior conditions, there are two ways in which fresh air can enter the vehicle's heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system. One of these ways is the conventional fresh air mode. The other is the partial air recirculation mode in which some fresh air is allowed to enter the cabin while some of the air already in the cabin is recirculated. While providing a partial response to the need to balance vehicle energy consumption and maximum cabin conditions, the amount of fresh air entering the HVAC system must be managed with care or one or both of these conditions will not be optimized.
Accordingly, as is often the case, there is room for improvement in the art of controlling the selection of incoming air to achieve parameter optimization.
The disclosed invention provides a two-door HVAC air intake system and method of efficiently selecting air intake between a full fresh air mode, a partial recirculated air mode and full recirculated air mode. The disclosed invention provides optimum heating/cooling performance, fuel economy and/or high voltage (HV) battery power consumption. The HVAC air intake design incorporates two rotary doors that, working in combination with a fresh air opening and two recirculated air openings, allow for the selection between the full fresh air mode, the partial recirculated air mode, and the full recirculated air mode. One of the two doors provides for selection between recirculation and fresh air. The other of the two doors selects for recirculation. The rotary doors may be shell doors or flap doors.
The intake system manages the doors to move progressively to any position based on exterior and interior air conditions as well as cooling and heating loads as well as cabin fogging probability. With the increase of cooling and heating loads, the system is moved toward full the recirculation mode. Conversely, with the increase of surface fogging, the system is moved toward the full fresh air mode.
The disclosed two-door HVAC air intake design provides an air intake design including an air intake body having a fresh air opening, a first recirculated air opening, and a second recirculated air opening. A first rotary door and a second rotary door are pivotably disposed in the body. The first rotary door is reversibly movable from a first recirculation opening-unblocking/fresh air opening-blocking position to a first recirculation opening-blocking/fresh air opening-unblocking position. The second rotary door is reversibly movable from a second recirculation opening-unblocking position to a second recirculation opening-blocking position.
The first recirculated air opening and said second recirculated air opening may be situated side-by-side and the fresh air opening is situated adjacent the first recirculated air opening. Alternatively, the fresh air opening may be situated between the first recirculated air opening and the second recirculated air opening.
To select the fresh air mode, the first and second rotary doors are moved to their recirculation opening-blocking positions. To select the partial air recirculation mode, the first rotary door is moved to its first recirculation opening-blocking position and the second rotary door is moved to its second recirculation opening-unblocking position. To select the full air recirculation mode, the first rotary door is moved to its first recirculation opening-unblocking/fresh air opening-blocking position and the second rotary door is moved to its second recirculation opening-unblocking position.
By selectively choosing a position between the full recirculation mode and the full fresh air mode, a low air side pressure drop is achieved, thereby improving system efficiency. In addition, the system of the disclosed inventive concept minimizes the rush of air and thus improves vehicle noise, vibration and harshness (NVH). Furthermore, the disclosed inventive design concept prevents the bypass of fresh air from outside of the vehicle directly into the vehicle's cabin.
Other advantages and features of the invention will become apparent when viewed in light of the detailed description of the preferred embodiment when taken in conjunction with the attached drawings and the appended claims.
For a more complete understanding of this invention, reference should now be made to the embodiment illustrated in greater detail in the accompanying drawing and described below by way of examples of the invention wherein:
In the following figures, the same reference numerals will be used to refer to the same components. In the following description, various operating parameters and components are described for different constructed embodiments. These specific parameters and components are included as examples and are not meant to be limiting.
The accompanying figures and the associated description illustrate embodiments of the two-door HVAC air intake system according to the disclosed inventive concept. Particularly,
It is to be understood that the under-hood features and arrangement may be different from those illustrated in
Referring to
The two-door HVAC air intake 10 further includes a conduit connector 16 for electrical connection to the vehicle's power system (not shown). An interchangeable filter element 18 is provided between the upper gate portion 12 and the lower blower portion 14.
A first recirculation opening 20 is formed in the upper gate portion 12. A first shell (rotary) door 21 is pivotably provided adjacent the first recirculation opening 20. A second recirculation opening 22 is formed in the upper gate portion 12. A second shell (rotary) door 23 is pivotably provided adjacent the second recirculation opening 22. At least one door controller 24 is provided to selectively pivotably move the first shell door 21 and the second shell door 23. The door controller 24 may be any one of several actuators (including, for example and without limitation, electric motors and vacuum controllers). Preferably, the door controller 24 is an electric servo motor provided whereby the positions of the first shell door 21 and the second shell door 23 are continuously variable.
Side views of the two-door HVAC air intake 10 are illustrated in
Referring to
Referring to
The positions of the first shell door 21 and the second shell door 23 relative to the fresh air mode, the partial recirculation mode and the recirculation mode are generally set forth in the following table:
It is to be understood that movement of the first shell door 21 and the second shell door 23 may be such that the doors 21 and 23 may be positioned anywhere between their fully closed and fully opened positions. The system therefore provides virtually infinite tunability as needed for maximum cabin comfort and minimum energy consumption.
The
The upper gate portion 12 includes an arrangement of internal seals to minimize air blow-by and the related reduction of efficiency and the requirement of increased energy consumption, specifically preventing the bypass of outside air into the cabin. Particularly, as illustrated in
The first shell door 21 and the second shell door 23 are illustrated in isolation in
Referring to
The embodiment of the two-door HVAC air intake illustrated in
With respect to
A sealing arrangement is provided in the upper gate portion 60 to maintain a tight seal of the shell doors. Particularly, and as illustrated in
The embodiments of the two-door HVAC air intake illustrated in
With respect to
A fresh air opening 106 is positioned adjacent the first recirculation opening 94 although the fresh air opening 106 could also be positioned between the first recirculation opening 94 and the second recirculation opening 100. The position of the flap door 96 can be either a flap fresh air blocking position (“F.A.B.”, shown in broken lines) or a flap recirculated air blocking position (“R.A.B.”, also shown in broken lines).
A sealing arrangement is provided in the upper gate portion 90 to maintain a tight seal of the doors. Particularly, and as illustrated in
When the flap door 96 is in the flap fresh air blocking position (F.A.B.), recirculated air is allowed to pass through the first recirculation opening 94, through the filter element 92 of the upper gate portion 90 and into the vehicle's cabin (not illustrated). At the same time, fresh air is blocked from passing into the fresh air opening 106.
When the flap 96 is rotated to the recirculated air blocking position (R.A.B.), fresh air is allowed to pass through the fresh air opening 106, through the filter element 92 of the upper gate portion 90 and into the vehicle's cabin (not illustrated). At the same time, recirculated air is blocked from passing into the first recirculation opening 94.
While
Referring to
A fresh air opening 126 is positioned between the first recirculation opening 114 and the second recirculation opening 120. Alternatively, the fresh air opening 126 could be positioned adjacent the first recirculation opening 114. The position of the flap door 122 can be either a recirculated air blocking position (“R.A.B.”, shown in broken lines) or a flap recirculated air passing position (“R.A.P.”, also shown in broken lines).
A sealing arrangement is provided in the upper gate portion 110 to maintain a tight seal of the doors. Particularly, and as illustrated in
When the flap door 122 is in the flap recirculated air passing position (R.A.P.), recirculated air is allowed to pass through the second recirculation opening 120, through the filter element 112 of the upper gate portion 110 and into the vehicle's cabin (not illustrated). When the flap door 122 is rotated to the flap recirculated air blocking position (R.A.P.), recirculated air is blocked from passing into the first recirculation opening 114.
Regardless of the embodiment, the specific movement of the first door relative to the first recirculation opening and the fresh air opening and the specific movement of the second door relative to the second recirculation opening are controlled by vehicle components that regulate blower speed, temperature in the cabin, the direction of air flow and the ratio of fresh air to recirculated air. Such conditions are monitored by sensors (not shown). An electronic controller and associated operating software generate signals to control the door actuators according to the conditions as indicated by the sensors. In this way, the disclosed inventive concept provides for economic operation of the vehicle's HVAC system whereby fuel economy and/or high voltage (HV) batter power consumption is minimized while providing optimum heating and cooling performance to thereby provide a comfortable in-cabin experience for vehicle passengers. The disclosed inventive concept achieves the noted advantages without adding weight, cost, or complexity to the HVAC system of the vehicle. The disclosed inventive concept may be used with any type of vehicle.
One skilled in the art will readily recognize from such discussion, and from the accompanying drawings and claims that various changes, modifications and variations can be made therein without departing from the true spirit and fair scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.
