Features for a vapor compression system configured to cool and/or heat (i.e. thermally condition) two or more distinct climate controlled vehicle interior components via a common thermal bus are disclosed. Some embodiments employ a single compressor. Some embodiments employ multiple compressors and/or thermal buses, each servicing components located within respective interior thermal zones of a vehicle, for example a front row seat zone, second and/or third row seat zones, and/or an overhead zone and/or a trunk zone.

A front and rear integrated vehicle HVAC system includes a front HVAC portion with a front blower and a front vent outlet, and a rear HVAC portion with a rear blower and a rear vent outlet. The system includes a controller that determines a minimum voltage to be supplied to the rear blower to prevent an inverse air flow from being expelled from the rear outlet and/or a rear blower air intake. A voltage supplied to the rear blower is then set as the greater of the minimum rear blower voltage and a current rear blower voltage. The inverse air flow is air flow in the front HVAC portion generated by the front blower and intended for the front vent outlet that seeps into the rear HVAC portion and is expelled from the rear vent outlet and/or the rear blower air intake.

A vehicle includes an internal combustion engine (ICE) selectable between a running state and a non-running state. A thermoelectric generator (TEG) is in thermal contact with the ICE for converting thermal energy from the ICE to output electrical energy. The vehicle has an electric pump for circulating a liquid coolant through a coolant circuit. The electric pump is selectively powerable by the electrical energy output from the TEG. The coolant circuit is in fluid communication with the ICE, a radiator, and the TEG; and the TEG is downstream of the radiator in the coolant circuit.

A system, for controlling socially one or more climate-affecting vehicle devices, such as for use with an autonomous vehicle. The system includes a non-transitory computer-readable storage component comprising an interface module that, when executed by a hardware-based processing unit, obtains a ride-sharer passenger profile for each of multiple passengers of an autonomous vehicle. The hardware-based processing unit is part of the system in various embodiments. The storage component includes a social vehicle-climate-manager module that, when executed by the hardware-based processing unit, determines group climate parameters for the autonomous vehicle based on the ride-sharer profiles. And the storage component includes an output module that, when executed by the hardware-based processing unit, controls the autonomous-vehicle climate-affecting devices based on the group climate parameters determined.

The invention relates to a vehicle air conditioner (10), with an evaporator (12) for supplying cold air (14) which can be fed to a vehicle interior (16), an air-mixing region (18) which is connected downstream of the evaporator (12) and can supply mixed air at a predeterminable temperature, a first ventilation duct (20) which is connected to the air-mixing region (18) and can conduct mixed air from the air-mixing region (18) into a front region (22) of the vehicle interior (16), and a second ventilation duct (24) which is connected to the air-mixing region (18) and can conduct mixed air from the air-mixing region (18) into a rear region (26) of the vehicle interior (16), wherein, in addition, a separate cold air duct (28), which can feed cold air (14), which is supplied by the evaporator (12), to the vehicle interior (16) in substantially unmixed form is provided.

A split heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) assembly for a motor vehicle is disclosed. The split HVAC includes a first sub-assembly comprising an evaporator and a first airflow space, a second sub-assembly comprising a second airflow space, a single sealing element located between a wall and one of the first sub-assembly or the second-sub-assembly, and a first interfacing element that directly connects the first sub-assembly and the second sub-assembly. The single sealing element and the first interfacing element prevent any airflow leakage from both the first sub-assembly and the second sub-assembly, and one of the first sub-assembly and the second sub-assembly extends partially into the other of the first sub-assembly and the second sub-assembly.

An automotive HVAC system includes upper and lower mode cases configured to discharge separate streams of temperature-conditioned air into front and rear passenger zones. The system separates the inlet air into separate mixing chambers, and a third stream through a heater core. Blend doors control hot and cold air streams entering their respective mixing chambers. Operation is controlled by reading requested temperature, blower rate and mode for system zone outlet, converting requests to a flowrate, calculating total flowrate as a summation of all requests, employing a math model to calculate total zonal flowrate as a summation of all zonal flowrates, calculating a blower control error as a function of the difference between total blower request and total zonal flowrate, modifying the operating state using the calculated control error, positioning and resetting the mode valves into defrost, heater and vent openings, and resetting the mode valves.

HVAC unit has a single blower fan, an evaporator downstream of the blower and a heater downstream of the evaporator, wherein each zone outlet includes a temperature mixing door for controlling portions of hot and cold air and an output valve for controlling a zonal output flow rate. A method is devised to control the discharge of temperature-conditioned air from a plurality of zone outlets of an automotive HVAC system via such an HVAC unit by the steps of reading an operator-requested zonal discharge blower level for each of the zone outlets; converting each zonal discharge blower level request to a zonal flowrate request; calculating a total requested output flowrate as a summation of all zonal flowrate requests; and adjusting a blower voltage to a minimum voltage required for generating the total requested output flowrate.

Described herein is a heating and/or air-conditioning device for a motor vehicle, the device including an inlet duct for the supply of fresh air, an air transmission branch, and an air heating branch, both supplied by the inlet duct and communicating with each other via a mixing zone. A butterfly flap is mounted pivotably around a rotation axis located at the mixing zone. The butterfly flap comprises a first wing associated with a first branch and a second wing associated with a second branch, as well as a wing extension elastically hinged to the first wing according to a hinge axis parallel to the rotation axis of the butterfly flap. Within the first branch are arranged abutment formations suitable to be engaged by the wing extension and to induce, during a rotation of the butterfly flap, a rotation of the wing extension with respect to the first wing.

A rear air conditioner for a vehicle including a discharge module mounted at an air outflow port of an air-conditioning case and having a discharge case and a rotary mode door; two face vents formed at both side walls of the discharge case; a floor vent formed at the center of the discharge case; and an air mixing zone formed inside the rotary mode door, thereby reducing the size of the air conditioner because a plurality of the vents are intensively arranged in the discharge case, enhancing installability due to the modulated components, reducing a temperature difference of the air discharged to the left and right sides inside the vehicle due to an improved mixability. The inside of the rotary mode door can be utilized as the air mixing zone. The degrees of opening of the face vents and the floor vent are controlled by the single mode door.