System and method for heating passenger cabin with inverter waste heat boosted by a heater

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10906377-B2
Application number	US-201815874936-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 19, 2018
Priority date	Jan 19, 2018
Publication date	Feb 2, 2021
Grant date	Feb 2, 2021

Abstract

A vehicle includes an inverter, a climate control system, and a coolant system. The climate control system includes a housing, and a heater core and an electric heater disposed within the housing. The coolant system includes conduit arranged to circulate coolant through the inverter and the heater core. The inverter is disposed upstream of the heater core.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle comprising:
a heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) unit including:
a housing defining an air inlet, a cabin vent, and an exterior vent that vents air outside of the vehicle,
a blend door disposed downstream the exterior vent and upstream the cabin vent, the blend door including a first position in which the air inlet and the cabin vent are in fluid communication and a second position in which the air inlet and the cabin vent are not in fluid communication,
a heater core disposed within the housing between the air inlet and the blend door, and
an electric heater disposed within the housing downstream of the blend door; and

a coolant system including conduit arranged to circulate coolant through the inverter and the heater core.

2. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the HVAC unit further includes a first blower disposed within the housing upstream of the heater core and a second blower disposed within the housing downstream of the blend door.

3. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the coolant system is valveless.

4. The vehicle of claim 1 further comprising a controller programmed to, in response to cabin heating not being requested, actuate the blend door to the second position.

5. The vehicle of claim 1 further comprising:
a temperature sensor disposed within in housing downstream of the heater core and upstream of the electric heater, the sensor being configured to output a signal indicative of an air temperature; and
a controller programmed to:
in response to cabin heating being requested, actuate the blend door to the first position, and
in response to the air temperature being below a desired temperature, energize the electric heater.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Zenner Thomas
• Kok Daniel Benjamin
• Jackson Kenneth J
• Yonak Serdar Hakki

Classifications

• B60H2001/00307

  Component temperature regulation using a liquid flow · CPC title

• B60H1/143 Primary

  the heat being derived from cooling an electric component, e.g. electric motors, electric circuits, fuel cells or batteries · CPC title

• B60H1/00835

  Damper doors, e.g. position control (construction or arrangement of damper doors B60H1/00664; B60H1/00864 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B60H1/00392

  for electric vehicles having only electric drive means · CPC title

• B60H1/00271

  HVAC devices specially adapted for particular vehicle parts or components and being connected to the vehicle HVAC unit · CPC title