Temperature control system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12427829-B2
Application number	US-202318167899-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 13, 2023
Priority date	Feb 15, 2022
Publication date	Sep 30, 2025
Grant date	Sep 30, 2025

Abstract

A temperature control system includes an air-conditioning circuit, a battery temperature adjustment circuit, a heat exchanger, a thermometer, and a controller. The air-conditioning circuit includes a heating unit for heating the air-conditioning heating medium and an air-conditioning flow amount adjustment unit for adjusting the amount of flow of the air-conditioning heating medium. The battery temperature adjustment circuit includes a battery flow amount adjustment unit for adjusting the amount of flow of the battery heating medium. The controller variably controls the amount of flow of at least one of the air-conditioning heating medium and the battery heating medium, depending on a request for increasing the temperature of the battery, a request for heating the cabin of the vehicle, and the temperature of the battery.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A temperature control system, comprising:
an air-conditioning circuit configured for circulating an air-conditioning heating medium and configured for adjusting a temperature of a cabin of a vehicle through heat exchange between the air-conditioning heating medium and air in the cabin;
a battery temperature adjustment circuit configured for circulating a battery heating medium and configured for adjusting a temperature of a battery through heat exchange between the battery heating medium and the battery;
a heat exchanger configured for exchanging heat between the air-conditioning heating medium and the battery heating medium;
a thermometer configured for measuring the temperature of the battery; and
a control unit configured for controlling the air-conditioning circuit and the battery temperature adjustment circuit,
wherein
the air-conditioning circuit includes
a heater configured for heating the air-conditioning heating medium,
a heater core configured for performing the heat exchange between the air-conditioning heating medium and the air in the cabin, and
a first water pump configured for adjusting an amount of flow of the air-conditioning heating medium and configured for outputting a first amount of flow of the air-conditioning heating medium and a second amount of flow of the air-conditioning heating medium, the second amount of flow of the air-conditioning heating medium being larger than the first amount of flow of the air-conditioning heating medium,

the battery temperature adjustment circuit includes a second water pump configured for adjusting an amount of flow of the battery heating medium and configured for outputting a first amount of flow of the battery heating medium and a second amount of flow of the battery heating medium, the second amount of flow of the battery heating medium being larger than the first amount of flow of the battery heating medium,
the control unit is configured to variably control an amount of flow of at least one of the air-conditioning heating medium or the battery heating medium, depending on a request for increasing the temperature of the battery, a request for heating the cabin of the vehicle, and the temperature of the battery, and
the control unit is configured to, in response to (i) receiving the request for increasing the temperature of the battery, (ii) receiving the request for heating the cabin, (iii) an output of the heater being maximized, and (iv) the temperature of the battery being lower than a set temperature,
set the first water pump to output the second amount of flow of the air-conditioning heating medium,
set the second water pump to output the second amount of flow of the battery heating medium, and
turn on a bypass route in which the air-conditioning heating medium flows from the heater to the heat exchanger while bypassing the heater core, to increase the amount of flow of the air-conditioning heating medium to the heat exchanger while reducing the amount of flow of the air-conditioning heating medium to the heater core.

2. The temperature control system according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to, in response to (i) receiving the request for increasing the temperature of the battery, (ii) receiving the request for heating the cabin of the vehicle, (iii) the output of the heater being maximized, and (v) the temperature of the battery being not lower than the set temperature,
set the first water pump to output the first amount of flow of the air-conditioning heating medium,
set the second water pump to output the first amount of flow of the battery heating medium, and
turn off the bypass route to cause an entirety of the amount of flow of the air-conditioning heating medium to flow to the heater core.

3. The temperature control system according to claim 2 , wherein the request for increasing the temperature of the battery is a request that is made to fast-charge the battery.

4. The temperature control system according to claim 2 , further comprising a branch valve in a channel extending from the heater to the heater core, wherein the control unit is configured to control the branch value to turn on or off the bypass route.

5. The temperature control system according to claim 4 , wherein the control unit is configured to, in response to receiving the request for heating the cabin of the vehicle, determine whether the temperature of the battery is lower than a further set temperature, the further set temperature being higher than the set temperature.

6. The temperature control system according to claim 5 , wherein the control unit is configured to, in response to determining that the temperature of the battery is lower than the further set temperature, determine whether the request for heating the cabin of the vehicle is received.

7. The temperature control system according to claim 6 , wherein the control unit is configured to, in response to receiving the request for heating the cabin of the vehicle, maximize the output of the heater.

8. The temperature control system according to claim 7 , wherein the control unit is configured to, in response to the output of the heater being maximized, determine whether the temperature of the battery is lower than the set temperature.

9. The temperature control system according to claim 1 , wherein the request for increasing the temperature of the battery is a request that is made to fast-charge the battery.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Hoshino Yu

Classifications

• H01M10/615

  Heating or keeping warm · CPC title

• B60L58/27

  by heating · CPC title

• H01M10/663

  the system being an air-conditioner or an engine · CPC title

• B60H2001/00307

  Component temperature regulation using a liquid flow · CPC title

• H01M10/625

  Vehicles · CPC title