Control method for vehicle air conditioner

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11179997-B2
Application number	US-201816645963-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 14, 2018
Priority date	Sep 11, 2017
Publication date	Nov 23, 2021
Grant date	Nov 23, 2021

Abstract

The present application provides a control method for a vehicle air conditioner, including: performing remote control in advance, wherein performing remote control in advance includes performing remote timing control in advance. Performing remote timing control in advance includes starting the air conditioner t0 minutes before the vehicle is started, so as to perform pre-cooling or pre-heating, wherein t0 is a constant. Compared with a vehicle air conditioner in the prior art, the vehicle air conditioner in the present application performs, by a configured step of performing remote control in advance, pre-cooling or pre-heating before the vehicle is started, so as to control an interior temperature of the vehicle in advance, such that when a user enters the vehicle, a comfortable ambient temperature is provided, thereby providing a comfortable ambient for a vehicle owner and a passenger.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A control method for a vehicle air conditioner, comprising:
remote pre-control, comprising remote timing pre-control; wherein the remote timing pre-control comprises starting the air conditioner to pre-cool or pre-heat for a predetermined time of t0 minutes before the vehicle is started, and t0 is a constant;
the remote pre-control further comprises remote intelligent temperature control, and the remote intelligent temperature control comprises:
a setting step of setting the interior temperature of the vehicle to reach Tset2 within a time t3;
a detecting step of detecting the interior temperature Tin of the vehicle;
a calculating step of calculating a minimum time t4 when the interior temperature of the vehicle reaches Tset2,
a determining step of judging a magnitude relationship between t3 and t4;
a performing step of controlling the air conditioner to operate according to the maximum output capacity operation mode when t3≤t4, and controlling the air conditioning system by selecting an optimal energy efficiency cooling or heating mode based on an embedded algorithm when t3>t4; and
defining a time of temperature change of the air conditioning system to be t5 when the air conditioning system operates according to a maximum energy efficiency operation mode; wherein t5≥t4, and the maximum output capacity operation mode in which the air conditioner unit outputs a maximum capacity under a current working condition, and the maximum energy efficiency operation mode is a mode in which the air conditioner unit operating in the current working condition has a maximum energy efficiency ratio.

2. The control method for the vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1 , wherein, the remote timing pre-control further comprises:
a detecting step of detecting an interior temperature Tin of the vehicle and an exterior temperature Tout of the vehicle;
a determining step of determining a relationship between Tin and Tout; and
a performing step of selecting to start an exterior air circulation or start an interior air circulation directly according to the relationship determined; wherein, the interior air circulation means that air inside the vehicle circulates inside the vehicle and doesn't exchange with air outside the vehicle; the exterior air circulation means that the air outside the vehicle flows into the vehicle, and the air inside the vehicle exchanges with the air outside the vehicle.

3. The control method for the vehicle air conditioner according to claim 2 , wherein, when the vehicle air conditioner is under a cooling working condition,
the determining step comprises determining whether Tin>Tout+X1 is satisfied; and
the performing step comprises, if Tin>Tout+X1 is satisfied, starting the exterior air circulation t1 minutes ahead of the predetermined time of t0 minutes, then starting the interior air circulation of the air conditioner, and if Tin>Tout+X1 is not satisfied, starting the interior air circulation of the air conditioner directly without starting the exterior air circulation;
wherein X1 and t1 are constants.

4. The control method for the vehicle air conditioner according to claim 3 , wherein, a range of X1 is 1≤X1≤6; and a range of time t1 is 1≤t1≤15.

5. The control method for the vehicle air conditioner according to claim 2 , wherein, when the vehicle air conditioner is under a heating working condition,
the determining step comprises determining whether Tin<Tout−X2 is satisfied; and
the performing step comprises, if Tin<Tout+X2 is satisfied, starting the exterior air circulation t2 minutes ahead of the predetermined time of t0 minutes, then starting the interior air circulation of the air conditioner, and if Tin<Tout−X2 is not satisfied, starting the interior air circulation of the air conditioner directly without starting the exterior air circulation;
wherein X2 and t2 are constants.

6. The control method for the vehicle air conditioner according to claim 5 , wherein, a range of X2 is 2≤X2≤2 and a range of time t1 is 1≤t2≤12.

7. The control method for the vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1 , wherein: when t3≤t4, the calculating step further comprises calculating a temperature value available in the vehicle within t3, and
the control method further comprises a displaying step of displaying the available temperature value via a control panel or a mobile phone screen;
when t3>t4, and t3<t5, the embedded algorithm comprises two cases which are classified according to a difference between the interior temperature of the vehicle and the exterior temperature of the vehicle:
case a. selecting an exterior air circulation mode and the maximum output capacity operation mode, if an interior of the vehicle is under a cooling working condition, and the exterior temperature of the vehicle is less than a difference between the interior temperature of the vehicle and a compensating temperature, or if the interior of the vehicle is under a heating working condition, and the exterior temperature of the vehicle is greater than a sum of the interior temperature of the vehicle and the compensating temperature; and
case b. selecting the maximum output capacity operation mode and the maximum energy efficiency operation mode, if the interior of the vehicle is under the cooling working condition, and the exterior temperature of the vehicle is greater than the difference between the interior temperature of the vehicle and the compensating temperature, or if the interior of the vehicle is under the heating working condition, and the exterior temperature of the vehicle is less than the sum of the interior temperature of the vehicle and the compensating temperature;
when t3≥t5, the embedded algorithm further comprises two cases which are classified according to a difference between the interior temperature of the vehicle and the exterior temperature of the vehicle:
case c. selecting an exterior air circulation mode and the maximum energy efficiency operation mode, if an interior of the vehicle is under a cooling working condition, and the exterior temperature of the vehicle is less than a difference between the interior temperature of the vehicle and a compensating temperature, or if the interior of the vehicle is under the heating working condition, and the exterior temperature of the vehicle is greater than a sum of the interior temperature of the vehicle and the compensating temperature; and
case d. selecting a minimum capacity operation mode and the maximum energy efficiency operation mode, if the interior of the vehicle is under the cooling working condition, and the exterior temperature of the vehicle is greater than the difference between the interior temperature of the vehicle and the compensating temperature, or if the interior of the vehicle is under the heating working condition, and the exterior temperature of the vehicle is less than the sum of the interior temperature of the vehicle and the compensating temperature; wherein, the minimum capacity operation mode refers to a mode in which the air conditioner outputs the minimum capacity to maintain the interior temperature of the vehicle.

8. The control method for the vehicle air conditioner according to claim 7 , wherein, in the case a, operating time is allocated as follows: first, the exterior air circulation operates for time (t3−t4)*k1, and the air conditioner operates according to the maximum output capacity operation mode for a remaining time, so that the interior temperature of the vehicle reaches a preset value in a preset time, wherein k1 is a correction factor which is given according to the interior temperature of the vehicle, the exterior temperature of the vehicle, and a temperature difference between the interior temperature of the vehicle and the exterior

Assignees

• Gree Electric Appliances Wuhan Co Ltd
• Gree Electric Appliances Inc Zhuhai

Inventors

• Zhang Youlin
• Zhao Huan
• Shen Jun

Classifications

• B60H1/00392

  for electric vehicles having only electric drive means · CPC title

• B60L58/12

  responding to state of charge [SoC] · CPC title

• B60H1/0073 Primary

  Control systems or circuits characterised by particular algorithms or computational models, e.g. fuzzy logic or dynamic models · CPC title

• B60H1/00807

  the input being a specific way of measuring or calculating an air or coolant temperature · CPC title

• B60H1/00278

  for the battery · CPC title